Chapter 8

"Prin… I forgot you could still hear me…" Jason muttered.

"Obviously!" Princess laughed. "Did Tiny really look down my blouse? Somehow, that sounds more like something you would have tried."

"Well…" Jason replied wickedly, "When you were cutting my hair…" He let the words trail off suggestively.

Princess thought for a moment.

"Oh!" she blurted. "I see. I guess that did make quite the view." Jason could feel her blushing.

"A very nice view." Jason said. "Actually, any view of you is nice. Very nice…"

"Hmmm… 'nice'…" Princess teased. "Is that the best you can come up with? I would think that someone who has the amount of time to think that you do, would be able to come up with better adjectives."

"Well I'm hardly the fascinating conversationalist that you are, Prin." Jason replied. "But I suppose I could come up with something better… How about… cute?"

"Cute?" She didn't sound entirely pleased.

"Good?"

"Keep trying, Condor!" she teased.

"Let's see… how about… incredible?" Jason asked. "As in, I think you're absolutely incredible."

"Much better. I think you'll do just fine…"

"Do just fine… at what?" Jason flirted.

"Well, what did you have in mind, Jase?" Princess asked in an intimate tone.

This was getting into dangerous territory. He loved it.

"As soon as I'm out of this bed… scratch that… as soon as I'm able to move… I'll be sure to show you." Jason said suggestively.

An image flashed through his thoughts… he was standing next to Princess, holding her protectively in his arms… cupping her face in his hand… bringing his lips down to hers for a long, slow kiss…

He wasn't sure where the scene had come from, but it set his blood racing. Somehow, he sensed that Princess had seen it too.

"I can hardly wait." she purred. "I just hope you know how to live up to your promises, Condor."

The image of a moment ago flashed through their minds again, only this time the embrace was more intimate. Jason had never realized how… exciting… sharing thoughts like this could be.

"I can live up to a lot of things…" came his reply.

"I'm not sure…" Princess said thoughtfully, "After all of this talk, I have some pretty high expectations."

"Reach for the sky, Prin." Jason said seriously. "I'll meet whatever expectations you have."

"That's a pretty big promise." Princess said softly.

"You're worth it, Prin."

"I… I don't know what to say to that, Jason." she replied, her lighthearted tone suddenly gone. "No one's ever said anything like that to me before."

Jason wasn't quite sure what to say either.

"I didn't mean to offend you, Prin." he said. "I was being serious. I guess you've been through a lot recently, and I should have been more sensitive."

"It's not you…" Princess said, "It's what you were saying, before."

"Okay… now I'm confused." Jason said.

"When you were talking with Mark. I only heard your side of the conversation."

"Oh." Jason answered nervously. "What was it I said that's bothering you?"

"It's not exactly bothering me…" Princess said slowly, "But it brought back something that I have been trying to bury for a long time…"

"Which was…" Jason prodded.

"The fact that Mark doesn't want a relationship with me."

"Oh… that…" How had the conversation suddenly taken this turn?

"I've always been very confused about my feelings for Mark… and his for me…" Princess said. "I never exactly knew where I stood with him, and he never really wanted to discuss what was between us. Even after the flowers, he didn't want to talk about it."

"Flowers?" Jason was confused. Had Mark given Princess flowers?

"The Fierce Flowers that Spectra placed on Earth… remember?" Princess explained.

"Yeah… when one of them captured you?"

"Yes. I guess for a while there, you guys didn't know if I had survived or not. When I came back, Mark barely said anything to me. But that night he came to visit me at Jill's." Princess said.

"I didn't know that…" Jason said.

"It was a private visit." Princess said. "Mark was really upset. He had thought that I might be dead, and was devastated by it, even though I had come back alive. He had been really scared at the thought of losing a member of his team. We spent a long time talking about it… and one thing led to another… and… we spent the night together." Princess was nearly speaking in a whisper now. It was obvious that this was difficult for her to talk about.

"But…" Jason protested, "Mark said that you two never got together… that there was nothing going on between you…"

"If that's what he told you, he wasn't lying." Princess said bitterly. "Afterwards, he regretted getting so 'carried away'… he told me to forget that it ever happened."

"What?" Jason exclaimed.

"You know Mark…" Princess said, "He can't let anything get in the way of being Commander. But at least I knew where I stood."

"Yeah. You took a backseat to his career." cried Jason indignantly.

Princess defended Mark.

"It's not exactly like that, and you know it Jason. The war, the security of the Federation… it was all at stake."

"Still, Prin," Jason insisted, "you shouldn't have to settle for being second best!"

"I didn't. I'm not." Princess replied. "We didn't get together, so he never had to consider my feelings."

She sounded bitter about the whole thing. Jason didn't blame her.

"You deserve to have your feelings considered, Prin." he said supportively.

"Thanks, Jase." Princess said warmly. "I'm sorry for bringing you down with this."

"You always brighten my mood, Prin." Jason said softly. "I just hope I can help brighten yours."

"I never realized how sweet you are, Jason." said Princess quietly. "Just now, when you said that you'd meet whatever expectations I had… that's what I had wanted to hear from Mark for a long time."

"Oh…" Jason wasn't really sure how to respond to that.

"But somehow… hearing it from you seems… right." Princess said. "At first, I was surprised at some of the feelings I was getting from you, Jase. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that…"

"That, what?" Jason mentally held his breath waiting for her response.

"That I kind of like those feelings… certainly things like this…"

The image of the two of them in an intimate embrace went through Jason's head again.

"bring up a lot of interesting possibilities…" Princess finished.

"It was you coming up with those thoughts!" Jason exclaimed.

"You didn't know that?" Princess asked, surprised.

"No… I thought… maybe, it was me…"

Princess laughed.

"Then I guess we both have the same thing on our minds…" she said.

"Not exactly…" Jason said. He sent Princess the same image, only his hands were in a more… interesting… place.

"Oh… my…" she said, "This is getting to be quite the conversation…"

She sent the image again, only now her hands had moved as well.

"Hey, this is almost as good as the real thing…" Jason grinned. "Almost…"

"I wouldn't know…" said Princess flirtatiously. "You've never kissed me."

"Yes I did!" Jason cried. "On Christmas! That's what sent you running off to see Zoltar!"

"Oh… yeah… I forgot about that…"

"How could you forget?" Jason huffed.

Princess laughed.

"I'm just teasing, Jase!" she said. "Of course I remember! But I wasn't sure until just now that you had intended to kiss me that night."

"Well… I hadn't, exactly. It just kind of happened. Your face was so close to mine, and I wanted to touch you so badly… and then… we were kissing."

"It was very nice…" Princess reminisced. "But certainly not up to the standards of this…"

The image of the two of them kissing flashed between their minds again.

"And that's certainly not up to the standards of the real thing…" Jason teased.

"Promises, promises…" Princess laughed. "All talk and no action Jase."

"You have my promise, Prin." Jason said. "I'm going to get out of this bed if it damn well kills me."

"I know you will, Jason." Princess said with quiet conviction.

"Hey, Jason… are you there?" It was Mark.

"Prin, I have to go." Jason said. "Mark wants to talk."

Jason wanted to talk to Mark too. But he didn't want Princess to know what was on his mind. It would only upset her.

"Okay, Jase." she sighed. "I can see it's going to be difficult having to share your attention. But Mark deserves some company too."

"That's my girl…" Jason grinned. His girl. It had a nice ring to it.

"I'll talk to you later, then." Princess said. She sent an image of herself blowing a kiss before she broke the connection.

Jason hadn't felt this good inside since before he had become comatose.

"What is it, Mark?" he asked. He couldn't keep the happiness from his voice.

"You've been talking to Princess, haven't you?" Mark accused.

"Yeah." Jason admitted, his good mood evaporating. "What of it? You just shut me out! What else was I supposed to do?"

"Fair enough…" Mark sighed. "I just wanted to apologize for my rude behavior before."

"I appreciate that." Jason said calmly. "I know it takes a lot to apologize. But before we let this drop, we need to clear the air."

"Clear the air? About what?" Mark asked.

"Your feelings for Princess. And the way you treat her." Jason replied.

"I thought we went through that already." Mark said in a frustrated tone. "There's nothing between us."

"I think there is." Jason insisted. "You say that there's nothing between you two, but you freak out whenever anyone else shows interest in her."

"Look, she's my sister. I'm just trying to make sure that no one takes advantage of her." said Mark defensively.

Jason went in for the kill.

"You mean, like you took advantage of her?" he accused.

"I… don't know what you're talking about." said Mark unconvincingly.

"Well what would you call it when you sleep with a girl who's been interested in you for years, only to tell her the next morning that it never happened?" asked Jason furiously.

"I told her to forget about that…" Mark protested weakly.

"Well, she hasn't." Jason pressed on. "It still bothers her. Why did you let things go so far if you didn't want to be with her?"

"It was a mistake." revealed Mark. "I know that, now. At the time… I was just so upset at the thought that I had almost lost her… my only thought was that I had to make her mine so that I wouldn't lose her again."

"Well guess what, Flyboy?" Jason replied, "You almost succeeded. I think she's really messed up because of what you did."

"You're not telling me anything I don't already know." Mark said. "Why do you think I've tried so hard to keep my distance from her? I didn't want to hurt her any more than I already have."

"What doesn't make sense to me, is why you told her that in the first place!" Jason said angrily. "Why didn't you just get together with her if you wanted her so much?"

"I told you this before, Jason. I can't. I'm Commander. I'm not allowed to have relationships with personnel under my leadership. It could compromise my decisions." Mark explained. "And besides, I'm not sure we're right for each other anyhow."

"Who the hell gave you the right to play God with her life?" Jason exploded. "You've just been jerking her around for years, but you never really wanted her."

"I think you just wanted the idea of her." Jason accused. "You wanted your subordinate to look up to you in that way. It made you feel like a big man."

Mark sighed.

"I think you're right, Jason." he admitted. "I can't believe you just laid me bare like that, but you're right. I think my ego got a big kick out of her feelings for me, so I did just enough to keep that going. And it doesn't hurt that she's sexy as hell."

"You don't go to bed with every sexy woman you meet, Mark." Jason growled. "That's no excuse for what you did."

"I know." Mark said apologetically. "It bothers me. I think about it all the time; whenever I see her. She… she'd never been with anyone else before. I took that from her, and now she can't get it back."

"If I were able to move I'd come over there and strangle you myself." Jason threatened.

"Don't think I haven't beaten myself up over this." Mark justified. "Like I told her, it was a mistake and should never have happened. It would be better if she just forgot about it. I wish she would."

"I don't think she will, Mark." Jason replied, "But I'll promise you one thing. I'm damn well going to try to get her to forget about you."

"I… I'm glad, Jase." Mark said quietly.

"You are?" asked Jason, surprised.

"Yes." Mark admitted. "She deserves to be happy. She's a good person. She's not right for me, so I shouldn't keep holding on to her any longer. She deserves someone like you, who can make up for my mistakes."

Jason was floored.

"I can't believe you just said that."

"Neither can I." Mark replied. "But it's true. I can't say I won't be jealous from time to time, but in the long run, I think you're much better for her than I ever could be."

"I appreciate that." Jason said.

There were no more words between them. They both thought about Princess for a long while before finally falling asleep.