And In the Darkness Bind Them 4?

Disclaimer: I do not own Babylon 5 or it's characters, although I wish I did.

Rating: M for mental and physical interrogation, I cringe at using the t-word so I wont. Blood, injuries, general meanness and course language.

AU: This isn't my usual fare, and starting this chapter onward the plot gets a little darker than my usual. Of course this is Marcus/Neroon so it promises to lighten up sooner rather than later. I just love the boys' snarking at each other, and real pain is not conducive to snark. Oh well, just a warning things are going to get difficult for poor Marcus very soon.

AU2: The history in this part is largely made up. So is most of the background history. If you have a question about it don't hesitate to ask. Otherwise just take most of it with a grain of sand. It was a necessary plot device I promise you.

AU3: I changed the POV of this story to third person. Sorry if this aggravates anyone or ruins the continuity of the story, but I realized after the fact that I needed to include some events that Marcus wasn't present for. Anyway, without further ado…

No Quarter Given

The door swished closed behind Marcus, entombing him in oppressive darkness. Until his eyes adjusted to the lack of lighting he stayed still, breathing silently and looking for evidence that the commotion had woken up the Shai Alit. Less that a minute later when the rooms stayed silent he began moving stealthily across the room, not wanting to tempt fate by waiting any longer. He pulled out the small dagger he kept strapped high on his left thigh and stood poised to strike over Neroon's sleeping platform.

Marcus could just make out his target sleeping peacefully, his face in repose making the hardened Minbari look unexpectedly young and innocent. Now that his mission was within completion distance Marcus found that he did not have the will to kill this man while he lay sleeping, unaware of the danger lurking in the shadow.

"Of all the times to become sentimental." Marcus curded under his breath.

Perhaps if Neroon was unequivocally guilty, and there wasn't this nagging doubt in Marcus' mind, he could act without compunction. There were just too many inconsistencies however, for Marcus to be able to kill in cold blood an otherwise seemingly honorable warrior while he was unaware.

His mind was screaming at him, while his conscience was strangely silent for the first time since Marcus had accepted this mission, when he deliberately made a noise as he moved closer. After which there was no time for further self-reflection or recrimination as the Minbari jackknifed upright and kicked the dagger from Marcus' hand.

As it flew from nerveless fingers, Marcus smiled grimly, hoping his conscience wouldn't continue to balk at killing this man in armed combat. He waited a few seconds the 'regain his balance' from Neroon's attack before going back on the attack once the Shai Alit reached his denn'bok. Thankfully for Neroon he kept it beside the bed on a table close at hand.

"Who are you?" Neroon barked in the Warrior Caste dialect as he ducked under a sweep to his head and twisted away. Although Marcus understood him well enough he didn't answer since according to his cover he had never joined the ranks of Anla'shoc, hence he was never at their training facility and never learned. He even left his own denn'dok in his quarters on Babylon Five and was using Willie's to fight with. Symbolic considering that revenge for his brother's death was supposedly the reason behind this attack.

"Who are you?" Neroon asked again, this time in Standard. Marcus set his face into a furious snarl and began praying that his acting skills were up to snuff.

"Do you have so many enemies that they frequently attempt your assassination?" Marcus sneered, blocking an uppercut easily as he danced out of the way of striking distance. Neroon turned his pike mid-movement however, and managed to clip Marcus with the butt for a kidney shot. Marcus stifled a pained moan and with a twirl of his pike slashed Neroon across the side of his face, drawing first blood.

Neroon retreated slightly and raised a finger to his head, when it came away sticky and wet his face shuttered completely, but not before Marcus caught a look of shock in his eyes. Neroon gave a slight bow of his head in acknowledgement before circling Marcus once again, holding his denn'bok at the ready.

"None who would knowingly attack me in my own home while I slept." Neroon answered, unsure whether to be impressed at the temerity or disdainful of the method used.

"You're not asleep now, you sonuvabitch." Marcus hissed looking for an opening as they circled each other, not realizing just how much his tone of voice gave away his relief at that fact.

"You can not hope to get out of here alive even if you do manage to kill me." Neroon told him calmly, obviously not overly concerned with his own mortality. That was either extreme overconfidence or self-knowledge. Marcus was leaning toward the latter.

"Perhaps." Marcus acknowledged as he rolled out of the way of a brutal knee strike. "But I did pet passed your guards once already tonight."

"Luck." Neroon shrugged dismissively. "Although I will have to speak to my guards regarding proper security procedure."

"Is it still going to be luck when I kill you?" Marcus snapped angrily at being so easily dismissed as a threat.

"At least tell me the name of my would-be executioner." Neroon replied glibly.

"Marcus Cole." He answered, careful to sound anticipatory. This is where he would see if his story could withstand a bit of prodding.

"I assume there is a reason for this unprovoked attack, Marcus Cole." Neroon responded slowly, rolling Marcus' name off his tongue experimentally. "Would you care to enlighten me?"

"Unprovoked!" Marcus snarled furiously, as he swung his pike at Neroon's forehead with all of his considerable might. "Have you killed so many that their names cease to have any meaning?"

Marcus was using his rather tumultuous feelings about Willie's death to fuel his increasingly vicious attacks. He was literally shaking with repressed rage as he remembered the look on his dead brother's face when he found him.

"I am a warrior. We kill in battle and never indiscriminately."

"Tell that to Willie." Marcus snapped harshly, as he kicked the Minbari's legs out from under him. Neroon managed to catch Marcus' ankle as he rolled however, causing Marcus to lose his balance and fall to the ground. Both combatants thought to take advantage of the other's weakened position, and so by the time they both regained their feet they were considerably more battered. "He was a Lieutenant aboard the Sheppard."

"I retaliated against a sneak attack. Your people are the one's who broke the treaty. I did what I had to do to protect my crew."

"You utterly destroyed them." Marcus shouted as he was knocked backwards by a blow to the head. He felt his nose break and begin gushing blood as he tried to shake of the dizziness and blurring vision.

"We were at war."

"The war was over!"

Before Neroon could respond Marcus heard a slight displacement of the air behind him and ducked to the side, just missing an attack aimed at his spine from behind. Marcus noticed that his assailant was the guard he had disabled using a dart from earlier, and he looked far from happy.

"Surrender." Neroon ordered as the two warriors boxed him into a corner.

"Not bloody likely." Marcus snarled, angry with himself for creating this situation by not killing Neroon when he had the opportunity.

He pulled his second dagger from its hiding place so that it was held securely against his wrist and slashed with it between sweeps of his pike. He was no longer playing around and both Minbari responded accordingly. Every move Marcus made was potentially lethal and his blade was soon covered in blood as he fought fervently to fulfill his mission. Marcus fought with abandon, but although he was able to beat the second Minbari one-on-one, fighting them both at once proved challenging.

"You can not hope to beat us both." Neroon told him almost gently as Marcus continued to parry their blows, almost wholly on the defensive as he became increasingly tired.

"No." Marcus agreed. "But I can at least take you down with me."

"Before Neroon could move in such close-quarters Marcus had thrown the dagger in his hand straight at the Minbari's heart. The only thing that saved him was the quick thinking of his guard who managed to divert its destination by breaking Marcus' wrist with a graceless strike of his pike. Just as Marcus was struck from behind to the back of the head he saw Neroon lying on the ground, the knife protruding from his chest, which continued to rise with each breath.

"I'm sorry." He murmured softly. Even he wasn't sure if he was apologizing to Delenn or Neroon as his world turned black and he knew no more.