On past and future
By Carla
DISCLAIMER
Challenger, Marguerite, Roxton, Malone and Veronica belong to Telescene, not to me. No infraction to their rights is meant, I'm just having a little fun. I own nothing but the story.
Chapter I
Marguerite kept her eyes open for any gem which would happen to cross her way. Roxton had dragged her out of the treehouse to search for some plants that Challenger needed. Why couldn't the old professor get them himself? She had been sleeping! Malone had joined as well; she smiled to herself while recalling how disappointed Roxton had looked when Ned had volunteered... He was so obvious, although she was too, probably. No... better not to go there. Now Malone was following Roxton, eagerly pretending to understand whatever John was saying about hunting, his favorite issue at that. What are men so weird? Anyway, she could understand why Malone was so willing to walk through the jungle in order to validate himself in front of Roxton, and specially in front of a jungle-girl they knew...
"Are you coming?" She heard an annoyed voice coming from ahead. She was slightly behind both men, distracted in her thoughts.
"Of course I am Roxton," she said, not really paying attention.
"Doesn't look like it..." Man! Why is he such a jerk? He was constantly in her case, couldn't he criticize Malone for a while? She saw plenty of material there actually.
"Just shut up Roxton."
"Okay, I think we're getting a bit carried away here." As always, Malone was trying to play peacemaker, probably so he wouldn't get tangled in their mess.
"I'm not the one starting it anyway." She muttered.
"What was that?" Roxton asked.
"Nothing you should concern yourself with."
"God! You must be the most infuriating, annoying, exasperating..." suddenly, Roxton stopped talking.
"What is it Roxton?" Malone asked.
"Yeah, you already out of names for me? Because I'm more than ready to take my shoot at you..."
"Sssshhhh!"
"Don't 'sshh' me, what the hell is wron...!"
"Marguerite!" Roxton looked at her in a way that told her the argument was over. Something more important had caught his attention, and she knew that when he got that look in his eyes... well, nothing good ever came out of it.
"John...?" Malone was preparing his gun, so was she.
"Steps." Was all Roxton said.
"Raptors?" Marguerite asked.
"No... not fast enough."
"T-Rex then?"
"No Malone, that seems... more in the lines of human."
"Great!" Marguerite said "So we just narrowed the list to apemen or slave traders."
"Let's get the hell out of here." Roxton urged them. Malone didn't miss the way Roxton took Marguerite's hand when the other man turned and started walking back to the treehouse. Also, that Marguerite didn't seem to be bothered by it. One might allege that it was to make sure that the greedy heiress wouldn't stay back if she found a nice looking rock or something, but Malone knew that things were never that easy where Roxton and Marguerite were concerned.
They had just started to get away when they heard a shot. They immediately took shelter behind some trees. Roxton shot back to the bushes were the first shot had come from. At once they were all in the middle of a gunshot. Marguerite would've liked to know what the hell was behind those bushes. And since they were already at it, who else had guns at the plateau? Tribune? She hoped not. She didn't trust the lizard, and she didn't like the way Roxton acted whenever Tribune was around. That man was too much of a gentleman for his own good.
"Any ideas besides the shooting?" Malone asked.
"Ask the brain over here!" Marguerite resorted, motioning for Roxton, while standing up to fire her gun again.
"We have to stop this!" Roxton said.
"No! You think?" Marguerite was getting tired of all this.
"If you can't say anything helpful, then I suggest..."
"Hey, guys! Focus!" Malone warned.
"Fine... I think we should stop firing."
"Great! Why didn't I think of that?"
"Marguerite, I'm warning you..."
"Roxton!" Malone almost screamed.
"Fine... I say we just stop firing and stay covered."
"Then whatever is over there will just think we have run out of bullets." Malone reasoned.
"Which won't be far from the truth in a few minutes." Marguerite pointed out.
"We stop" Roxton started again", and when they stop too, I stand up and call for a truce."
"Are you kidding me?" Marguerite honestly thought he was out of his mind with a plan like that. He was annoying, he had his moments, but sure as hell she didn't want him dead! "You'll get shot John! There's no way in hell I'm going to stand back and let you get yourself killed!"
"Damn it Marguerite! Can't you just trust me on this one?"
"Not if the price for a mistake is your head, I can't."
God! Malone thought to himself. They'll either tear each other apart or make love vows! He was about to comment on the uneasy situation again, but suddenly he realized the shooting was over. He looked quizzically at Roxton and Marguerite. They seemed equally surprised.
"I guess they ran out of bullets first." Marguerite offered. There was an awkward silence for a while. After five minutes, they were quite edgy. They didn't know if the shooter had left and Roxton's face showed that he suspected it wasn't so. They had to do something, anything... Suddenly they heard movement coming from the bushes. They all aimed their guns at once. An object came flying from the bushes. It was a rifle.
"I think that's our cue for a truce." Malone said.
"Not so fast." Roxton warned "Who's there?!" he shouted. There was silence for a couple of seconds. After that, they saw a hat much like Roxton's emerge from the trees.
"I won't hurt you! I'm out of bullets!" it was a male's voice, an Englishman for the sound of the accent.
"That figures." Marguerite said, although she seemed more distracted than Roxton would've liked her to be, as if the voice had surprised her.
"Cover my back." He said, giving her a reassuring smile and patting Malone on the shoulder. Roxton stepped from the tree, pointing his gun to the bushes, standing between them and the tree "Why did you fire at us?!" he asked.
"I thought you were one of those cannibals!" the voice answered.
"I'm Lord John Roxton. Come out of the bushes, nice and easy. There are more guns here than you probably would like pointing at you, so don't try anything stupid."
A man stood up slowly. Marguerite gasped when she saw him. He had baby-blue eyes. His blond hair was longer than most men used it, reaching his shoulders in dirty waves, and she could see he had not shaved in a while. Still he was a gorgeous man, about Roxton's height with a well-constructed body. She could see the state of his clothes, which indicated how hard his time in the plateau had been. She couldn't believe her eyes until she got a glance at the little scar close to his right eye. It was barely noticeable, specially by the way his hair kept getting in the way.
"I'm Keith Lawrence, I didn't mean to fire at you. As I said, I thought you were the cannibals."
"Malone, stop aiming at him." Marguerite ordered as the put her gun down.
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Malone asked.
"Do it!" she almost yelled at him. That got John and Keith's attention. She started to stand up.
"Marguerite!" Malone urged, trying to get her down. She shoved him off and stood up, looking directly at the newcomer.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. Roxton was shocked that she seemed to know the stranger. What bothered him the most was that he couldn't figure if she was happy to see the stranger or not.
"Marguerite! What's going on?" he asked, but was pushed aside by Keith, who absently started his way towards Marguerite. That was enough for him. "Hey!" he aimed at Keith with his rifle, he wasn't about to allow him to get any closer to her, the man could be dangerous, most of Marguerite's friends were anyway. He couldn't risk her getting hurt. "Stop where you are Lawrence." With that, Keith broke out of some spell and turned to look at Roxton, surprised.
"Roxton! No!" Marguerite screamed and rushed towards Keith, pushing him away from Roxton "He means no harm." She turned to Keith smiling "Not right now anyway."
"You are alive..." Keith murmured. By now Malone had stood up as well, and was quite confused. Roxton was ready to kick Keith's ass.
"And you are here." Marguerite looked positively happy to see this Keith guy. She raised her hand and caressed his scar. Roxton was feeling sick. "It's good to see you again Keith." She finally said.
"What? After two years that's the best you can do?" Faster than they had thought, Keith was kissing Marguerite on the lips passionately. And to Roxton's dismay, she was kissing him back! The other man was hugging Marguerite so tightly that he might as well break her! Roxton was about to interrupt when Marguerite broke it off, not moving from Keith's arms, though. Then she glanced at Roxton's face and withdrew from the other man's embrace. Keith took notice of it, turned back to look at Roxton and grinned from ear to ear, as if there was something amusing in the situation.
"So... welcome to the Lost World Keith." Was all Marguerite could come up with.
By Carla
DISCLAIMER
Challenger, Marguerite, Roxton, Malone and Veronica belong to Telescene, not to me. No infraction to their rights is meant, I'm just having a little fun. I own nothing but the story.
Chapter I
Marguerite kept her eyes open for any gem which would happen to cross her way. Roxton had dragged her out of the treehouse to search for some plants that Challenger needed. Why couldn't the old professor get them himself? She had been sleeping! Malone had joined as well; she smiled to herself while recalling how disappointed Roxton had looked when Ned had volunteered... He was so obvious, although she was too, probably. No... better not to go there. Now Malone was following Roxton, eagerly pretending to understand whatever John was saying about hunting, his favorite issue at that. What are men so weird? Anyway, she could understand why Malone was so willing to walk through the jungle in order to validate himself in front of Roxton, and specially in front of a jungle-girl they knew...
"Are you coming?" She heard an annoyed voice coming from ahead. She was slightly behind both men, distracted in her thoughts.
"Of course I am Roxton," she said, not really paying attention.
"Doesn't look like it..." Man! Why is he such a jerk? He was constantly in her case, couldn't he criticize Malone for a while? She saw plenty of material there actually.
"Just shut up Roxton."
"Okay, I think we're getting a bit carried away here." As always, Malone was trying to play peacemaker, probably so he wouldn't get tangled in their mess.
"I'm not the one starting it anyway." She muttered.
"What was that?" Roxton asked.
"Nothing you should concern yourself with."
"God! You must be the most infuriating, annoying, exasperating..." suddenly, Roxton stopped talking.
"What is it Roxton?" Malone asked.
"Yeah, you already out of names for me? Because I'm more than ready to take my shoot at you..."
"Sssshhhh!"
"Don't 'sshh' me, what the hell is wron...!"
"Marguerite!" Roxton looked at her in a way that told her the argument was over. Something more important had caught his attention, and she knew that when he got that look in his eyes... well, nothing good ever came out of it.
"John...?" Malone was preparing his gun, so was she.
"Steps." Was all Roxton said.
"Raptors?" Marguerite asked.
"No... not fast enough."
"T-Rex then?"
"No Malone, that seems... more in the lines of human."
"Great!" Marguerite said "So we just narrowed the list to apemen or slave traders."
"Let's get the hell out of here." Roxton urged them. Malone didn't miss the way Roxton took Marguerite's hand when the other man turned and started walking back to the treehouse. Also, that Marguerite didn't seem to be bothered by it. One might allege that it was to make sure that the greedy heiress wouldn't stay back if she found a nice looking rock or something, but Malone knew that things were never that easy where Roxton and Marguerite were concerned.
They had just started to get away when they heard a shot. They immediately took shelter behind some trees. Roxton shot back to the bushes were the first shot had come from. At once they were all in the middle of a gunshot. Marguerite would've liked to know what the hell was behind those bushes. And since they were already at it, who else had guns at the plateau? Tribune? She hoped not. She didn't trust the lizard, and she didn't like the way Roxton acted whenever Tribune was around. That man was too much of a gentleman for his own good.
"Any ideas besides the shooting?" Malone asked.
"Ask the brain over here!" Marguerite resorted, motioning for Roxton, while standing up to fire her gun again.
"We have to stop this!" Roxton said.
"No! You think?" Marguerite was getting tired of all this.
"If you can't say anything helpful, then I suggest..."
"Hey, guys! Focus!" Malone warned.
"Fine... I think we should stop firing."
"Great! Why didn't I think of that?"
"Marguerite, I'm warning you..."
"Roxton!" Malone almost screamed.
"Fine... I say we just stop firing and stay covered."
"Then whatever is over there will just think we have run out of bullets." Malone reasoned.
"Which won't be far from the truth in a few minutes." Marguerite pointed out.
"We stop" Roxton started again", and when they stop too, I stand up and call for a truce."
"Are you kidding me?" Marguerite honestly thought he was out of his mind with a plan like that. He was annoying, he had his moments, but sure as hell she didn't want him dead! "You'll get shot John! There's no way in hell I'm going to stand back and let you get yourself killed!"
"Damn it Marguerite! Can't you just trust me on this one?"
"Not if the price for a mistake is your head, I can't."
God! Malone thought to himself. They'll either tear each other apart or make love vows! He was about to comment on the uneasy situation again, but suddenly he realized the shooting was over. He looked quizzically at Roxton and Marguerite. They seemed equally surprised.
"I guess they ran out of bullets first." Marguerite offered. There was an awkward silence for a while. After five minutes, they were quite edgy. They didn't know if the shooter had left and Roxton's face showed that he suspected it wasn't so. They had to do something, anything... Suddenly they heard movement coming from the bushes. They all aimed their guns at once. An object came flying from the bushes. It was a rifle.
"I think that's our cue for a truce." Malone said.
"Not so fast." Roxton warned "Who's there?!" he shouted. There was silence for a couple of seconds. After that, they saw a hat much like Roxton's emerge from the trees.
"I won't hurt you! I'm out of bullets!" it was a male's voice, an Englishman for the sound of the accent.
"That figures." Marguerite said, although she seemed more distracted than Roxton would've liked her to be, as if the voice had surprised her.
"Cover my back." He said, giving her a reassuring smile and patting Malone on the shoulder. Roxton stepped from the tree, pointing his gun to the bushes, standing between them and the tree "Why did you fire at us?!" he asked.
"I thought you were one of those cannibals!" the voice answered.
"I'm Lord John Roxton. Come out of the bushes, nice and easy. There are more guns here than you probably would like pointing at you, so don't try anything stupid."
A man stood up slowly. Marguerite gasped when she saw him. He had baby-blue eyes. His blond hair was longer than most men used it, reaching his shoulders in dirty waves, and she could see he had not shaved in a while. Still he was a gorgeous man, about Roxton's height with a well-constructed body. She could see the state of his clothes, which indicated how hard his time in the plateau had been. She couldn't believe her eyes until she got a glance at the little scar close to his right eye. It was barely noticeable, specially by the way his hair kept getting in the way.
"I'm Keith Lawrence, I didn't mean to fire at you. As I said, I thought you were the cannibals."
"Malone, stop aiming at him." Marguerite ordered as the put her gun down.
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Malone asked.
"Do it!" she almost yelled at him. That got John and Keith's attention. She started to stand up.
"Marguerite!" Malone urged, trying to get her down. She shoved him off and stood up, looking directly at the newcomer.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. Roxton was shocked that she seemed to know the stranger. What bothered him the most was that he couldn't figure if she was happy to see the stranger or not.
"Marguerite! What's going on?" he asked, but was pushed aside by Keith, who absently started his way towards Marguerite. That was enough for him. "Hey!" he aimed at Keith with his rifle, he wasn't about to allow him to get any closer to her, the man could be dangerous, most of Marguerite's friends were anyway. He couldn't risk her getting hurt. "Stop where you are Lawrence." With that, Keith broke out of some spell and turned to look at Roxton, surprised.
"Roxton! No!" Marguerite screamed and rushed towards Keith, pushing him away from Roxton "He means no harm." She turned to Keith smiling "Not right now anyway."
"You are alive..." Keith murmured. By now Malone had stood up as well, and was quite confused. Roxton was ready to kick Keith's ass.
"And you are here." Marguerite looked positively happy to see this Keith guy. She raised her hand and caressed his scar. Roxton was feeling sick. "It's good to see you again Keith." She finally said.
"What? After two years that's the best you can do?" Faster than they had thought, Keith was kissing Marguerite on the lips passionately. And to Roxton's dismay, she was kissing him back! The other man was hugging Marguerite so tightly that he might as well break her! Roxton was about to interrupt when Marguerite broke it off, not moving from Keith's arms, though. Then she glanced at Roxton's face and withdrew from the other man's embrace. Keith took notice of it, turned back to look at Roxton and grinned from ear to ear, as if there was something amusing in the situation.
"So... welcome to the Lost World Keith." Was all Marguerite could come up with.