Late night, that evening:
Sheridan wiped the pouring rain from his eyes as the nearly invisible door began to open on the silvery ship. "Stand ready! Fire only on my order!" he barked, eyes focused on the warm golden light that poured out into the thundering rain from the open doorway. He looked to the Rangers around him. They were not the least distracted by the curtains of water pouring over them, focused only on their target.
After what seemed like an eternity a long, lean hand peeked from the side and wiggled it's fingers in greeting. Sheridan found himself raising his head in curiosity. "What the-?"
"Shak'ti Duv! Shak'ti Duv!" It called out in flawless Minbari for them to stand down.
John Sheridan cursed dropping his gun to his side, he knew that voice all too well. "Goddamn it! Stand down, Stand down!" He repeatedly back in english into his link to the approaching forces. The rangers with him relaxed and lowered their weapons. "Return to base, situation clear. Repeat, return to base." he called out over the link with more than a little disappointment in his voice. "Marcus!"
Marcus Cole's whole form now stepped out, eclipsed by the light behind him. "Uh. Hi guys." he called out waving weakly to the rangers who were being pounded by rain. They squinted up at him and waved perfunctorily back.
Sheridan raised his eyes to the silhouetted form in the lit doorway and moved swiftly towards it. "What the hell are you doing out here?!" Sheridan asked exasperated, shouting over the rain as it poured down his face.
"We got caught by the weather so I called my ship over for some shelter. We were going to bring the wheeler back in the morning anyway!" Marcus called down to him.
"Why in the morning!? Can't that ship hold a wheeler?"
"How about I give you guys a lift back?" Marcus shouted back changing the topic.
Sheridan's face, obscured by rain and darkness, lit up at the prospect. "That would be super." He said as Marcus triggered the stairs to descend from the seamless body.
Sheridan waved the few ground troops with him over and they climbed swiftly into the warm lighted dry haven of the ship. Without the rain pounding them it seemed tomb-like quiet in the ship and even a whisper sounded loud as President Sheridan immediately called back to the command center to get everything worked out with the arrival. For good measure, he ordered the surveillance cameras disabled for the drop off.
"So I guess I finally know how you got here." John mumbled under his breath taking a long look around the ship. Marcus had always nimbly changed the subject when they had asked how he made the journey.
Sheridan turned to the rangers, who were doing thier level best to not look like gawking fools, and quickly put on his best presidential voice, "You guys you never saw this, understood?" They nodded silently.
Marcus closed the door. "I was just trying to keep from answering more questions, that's all. There were too many was it were."
Sheridan took a towel from a set of offering hands. It was then his eyes finally settled on a damp Susan Ivanova wearing someone else's clothes. He shot her a million watt grin. "Dare I ask?" he mumbled softly to her as he ran the towel over his wet hair. He caught Ivanova's deadly glare. "Didn't think so," he mumbled and looked over to Marcus. "Fire up the engines already. What kind of speed are we talking about for this thing?"
Marcus grinned back at his enthusiasm. "I'm sorry, but You'll just have to keep wondering, Mr President, this is purely Taxi service."
Sheridan scowled. "After living in my house for a month and keeping this a secret? No no no. You owe me more than that, pal."
"Alright, alright. One orbit." Marcus groaned acquiescing a little too easily.
"Two. And I get the stick on one." Sheridan slipped by him towards the front control chairs.
"Don't push it, Mr. President." Marcus said using his title again in front of Sheridan's underlings. They'd been on nothing but a first name basis for weeks now.
"Shotgun. I got stick on repeat." Susan called dryly as she vaulted easily into the co-pilot seat. Marcus snapped his head to her in shock. She looked to Sheridan then back at him with a catlike smirk. "What? I called it first. Snooze and lose."
Her time on the stick over. Susan now sat on the back bench watching the show. The rangers had been dropped off at the compound long ago and now John was hard at work trying Marcus' patience. She had to admit after suffering the reverse seeing Marcus flustered was pretty damn funny. They had only known each other slightly on B5, but now she also notice how far the men's friendship had progressed since living in the same house.
"John pull back on the-" Marcus hovered over Sheridan who was unmoved by his companion's fussing and fretting.
"Marcus I've been flying for twenty - woo!" He hooted as the thrusters fired and bucked the starboard side of the ship upwards. "This thing has amazing tracking."
"That's what I was trying to tell you..." The former ranger began a long diatribe about the diametric something or other, Susan began to stop paying attention to what he was saying exactly. Instead all she heard was the timber of his voice, the nervous agitation she had never heard before that somehow made her smile as the two were acting like a couple of squabbling old ladies.
Mostly though her eyes moved over Marcus' lithe form as he hovered over Sheridan's shoulder. She found herself dwelling on the way his hair fell in front of his face when he leaned over and how only an hour before she had kept stroking that hair out of the way so she could see those same eyes.
It was then that Marcus shot her a small smile over his shoulder that said 'I'm not ignoring you' and a few other things that caused a blush face from her warm cheeks to race down to her toes -- she quickly looked away.
"Andra, would you please keep a eye on what he's doing so he won't put us in the ground!" he called overhead turning away. "And for godssake John, pull back on the speed man, we are not in hurry to go anywhere." he shot towards Sheridan with a smirk then turned and with three or four rather swift steps without his cane he passed by her going into the back hall. Intrigued by his unaided retreat into the rear, she followed.
As soon as she turned the corner after the doorway his unseen hands clasped her face and his mouth descended on hers hungrily, kissing her so deeply that her toes curled. Any other man would have been in extreme pain 2 seconds ago for the audacity, but with him it was as if she was almost powerless now. It was as if his mere presence now crumbled her defenses. She had been so afraid of this, but wasn't sure why. Especially when he smelled so damn good.
He pulled ever so slightly away with a little smirk that said he was entirely too proud of himself. She found herself gasping for air when she went to speak. "I'll get you for that." She whispered here eyes fluttering half open, a hint of her "Mighty Ivanova" voice. Her sultry smile wasn't selling it though.
A large smile grew across his face and her heart skipped a beat. She'd forgotten how wonderful his smile was, and how she'd missed it. "God I hope so, just tell me when and where." he whispered stroking her cheek. "Co-piloting my own ship with 'Boom Boom' out there isn't exactly what I wanted to be doing after - well... just after."
"It's okay." She said running her hand down his back and slapped his ass playfully. "Get back out there before he crashes us into a mountain or commandeers it for Starship One."
Marcus' face contorted in surprise. Then seriously asked. "He can do that?"
"Well, he might if you leave him alone too long..."
The rain had finally slowed, and now several hours later the ship settled to the ground at the end of the path leading to the Sheridan's house without so much as bump. The door opened and the stairs silently descended. Marcus ordered Andra to lock up behind him, and the trio proceeded into still quiet of the night towards the door.
It opened to silence. Delen, Turkell and David were all sound asleep and would be for a few more hours.
"Well kids, that was fun, but I'm going to bed before I end up divorced again." Sheridan grunted heading down the hall with a casual wave. "See you both in the morning."
"Night John, sorry for all the excitement." Marcus called after.
Sheridan gave them a weary curmudgeonly grunt and wave as he closed the door behind him.
"Think he's mad?" Marcus winced looking over at Susan.
"After that joyride? Hardly. You might even get a thank you card." She said dryly making a beeline for the bathroom.
After she left he sighed wearily and let his back slouch, his head droop, and his cane fall from his fingers and clatter to the floor. All evening he'd been fighting showing her the true level of his fatigue, and he was paying for it. His entire body felt as if it was filled with sand, his limbs screamed at him in pain, his joints throbbed. Finally, he drug his foot down the two stairs into the livingroom and the four more excruciating steps to finally fall exhaustedly collapsed onto the couch with a groan that made him feel as old as Methulsela himself, which if you got technical was actually true.
He strained with the bit of his energy to stretch out his long legs out across the cushions and off his shoes and laid his head back on the couch listening to Susan puttering around in the bathroom. In two long sighs he was fading out as the last of his energy waned.
He hazily stared up at the metallic mobile Delenn had hung there. He hadn't noticed it until now. It was quite lovely, and typically Minbari - long slender curved crystalline arms supporting almost insubstantial discs of silver that cast soft circles of light across the room from the one solitary light source, the one Susan had turned on.
A mobile depended on it's precisely balanced parts to provide equilibrium. Remove just one and their delicate stability is disrupted and becomes a tangled mess. He watched them slowly spin in the soft overhead breeze wondering which piece in particular he was as the room stilled around him. His jaw slacked as his eyes slowly closed.
"You look like hell," Susan voice came dryly. His eyes snapped open to find her glowering over him. She'd showered and her damp hair glittered in the moonlight pouring in the dark windows. He smiled dreamily, harkening back to how beautiful she had looked in the woods soaked to the bone by the rain, that image in his mind his eyes began to flutter closed again.
"Are you okay?" she asked slowly.
"Mmhrmm." He mumbled halfheartedly. "Ma jis... fine."
"Marcus." she gave his bare foot a slap. "You're awfully pale." her warm hands caressed his cool cheek, her voice was guarded, tinged with fear.
He grimaced at the tone of her voice. He clapped a hand over her and removed it from his face, holding it in his. "I just pushed it too far today, that's all. Once I stopped moving it all hit at once." he said exhaustedly. He kissed her fingers and released her.
"Well then, I'm taking you to bed." She announced, determinedly. "Come on, on your feet."
His smile now went wide. "Ooh. You naughty girl, as much as I -"
One eyebrow raised sternly.
He knew that meant he was getting nowhere so he rolled to sit up, an inadvertent groan issuing forth. "Okay, Okay...you win." He held out a arm for support.
Non was offered. She was staring at his extended hand, her eyes wide. He was now shaking hard with tremors.
After a couple seconds of tense silence he spoke up gently. "Susan. It happens. I'm just tired." Marcus said softly trying to steal her eyes from his affliction. "That's all." A mischievous smile spread across this weary face. "After I get some rest we can try that that kinky little thing you wanted to try before..." he teased her with a fictional jab.
"This is funny to you?" She snapped at him bitterly withdrawing the offered hand and crossed it over her other arm staunchly in front of her, "Because it isn't to me!"
"You're right." Marcus sighed, letting his humor fall aside. He was too tired for it anyway. "It's not funny. It's just how it is, and I'm sorry for that but it can't be changed." he said simply and solemnly and attempted to try to rise unaided from the couch without much success.
The anger in her face faded as fast as it had risen. She swooped in and slipped her arm around his waist to aid him to his feet easily.
He started to lean heavily to one side to lead them towards the staircase. Her arm snapped him back to the other direction.
"I don't think the stairs are a good idea in your condition. My room is right there." she raised her chin towards her door.
"Am I going to be there alone?" His buzzing throbbed almost sensually,
Susan couldn't fight the blush that again warmed her cool skin. "I haven't decided yet."
He turned his head and nuzzled his face in her hair, inhaling deeply. "Well word is I'm a bed hog, so you will need to stake your claim early."
She smiled slightly at the corners of her mouth. "I'll keep that in mind."