Susan ran her hand through his hair encouraging him to deepen the kiss. He accepted the invitation and did so. His hand had made it's way down her body and rested on her waist; his thumb making a circling motion on her exposed skin, which sent chills of desire coursing through her body.
Then suddenly, without warning, he broke the kiss, which caused Susan to let out a small whimper.
Marcus pulled away from her saying, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you. I'm so sorry." Before she knew it, he was on his feet offering her a hand to help her up.
She accepted his hand and started to say, "Marcus, ... " but was interrupted. She wanted to tell him that she wasn't sorry he kissed her and that they should talk about this. It was obvious to her that they both had feelings towards each other.
"We have to get going. You have your tour of MedLab at 12:00. That gives us half an hour to shower and change. When you're finished, I'll meet you back here." Without letting Susan get a word in, he turned and headed for the men's shower.
"What the hell was THAT all about?" Susan mumbled to herself.
=
The walk to MedLab was made in complete silence. Susan wanted to talk to Marcus about what happened, but it was obvious to her that he didn't want to discuss things right now. He had this heartbroken look on his face as if he had betrayed someone.
*Is that it?* she thought to herself. *He has a girlfriend or a wife and now he feels guilty about kissing me. Oh Susan how could you be so stupid? Someone as wonderful as Marcus has to be taken. You are such an idiot!*
Stephen met them as they walked into MedLab. He could tell immediately by the look on Marcus' face that he was troubled. He told Susan that Dr. Hobbs was going to take her through the first part of the tour and that he would be along shortly.
"Marcus," Stephen said. With a wave of his hand he indicated that they should talk in his office.
Marcus nodded and followed Stephen in, closing the door behind him.
"Alright what's going on?" Stephen began.
Marcus started pacing around the office. "Stephen, I am such a bloody fool. I can't believe I let it happen!"
Stephen was confused. "Let what happen?"
"We were working out together, she tripped, we both fell and ... I kissed her." Marcus put his hands over his face as if that would make it all go away.
*Finally,* Stephen said to himself. He was happy for his friend; it was an indication that Marcus was starting to move on. After Ivanova died, Marcus buried all his feelings. Everyone was concerned that he wouldn't be able to recover from her death. But Marcus showing interest in someone else was definitely a step in the right direction.
Stephen smiled. "Alright, so you kissed her. Was it any good?"
Marcus stopped pacing. "That's not funny Stephen! I shouldn't have kissed her! I just met her - I'm supposed to be her bodyguard! I can't believe I did something as stupid as that!"
Stephen walked over to Marcus. "It's not stupid Marcus. It's obvious that you have feelings for her; otherwise you wouldn't have kissed her. You're human, you're allowed to have feelings you know."
"Maybe, but you have more in common with her than I do!" Marcus said.
"Yes, but I'm not the one who's showing an interest in her. Besides, Tessa is coming back to the station. Tessa is the one I love," Stephen said. "Look," he said continuing on, "did she kiss you back? Was there any indication from her that she liked it?"
Marcus nodded.
"I think you should pursue this Marcus. You need to talk to her. Tell her about Ivanova. Explain to Susan what happened and that you want to go slow," Stephen said. "Tell Susan how you feel about her."
"I don't know if I can Stephen. I haven't even been able to say her name. I can't say it without thinking of Ivanova," Marcus said sadly.
"I know it's hard," Stephen said, putting his hand on Marcus' shoulder. "As your friend all I'm going to say is: Ivanova died without knowing how you felt about her. Don't make the same mistake again Marcus."
Marcus nodded. "I'll try .... maybe tonight."
Stephen was pleased. "Good. And don't forget, if you want to talk you know where to find me." Stephen continued, "Why don't you grab something to eat. Susan's probably going to be in MedLab for a few hours."
"I can't. I'm the bodyguard remember? I have to stick around here," Marcus said.
"Have to, or want to?" Stephen asked.
Sheepishly Marcus said, "Maybe a little of both."
Stephen nodded; he'd gotten the answer he had hoped for. Marcus was returning to the land of the living. "Why don't you just hang out here in my office. This way you're in MedLab in case anything happens, and you still have some space to deal with this situation."
"It's a good idea. Thanks Stephen," Marcus said.
Stephen turned and left Marcus alone with his thoughts.
=
They ended up leaving MedLab around 18:00. Stephen had been excited about some of Susan's theories. If she did join the Alliance, he would love for her to work in MedLab. She would be an asset to the team.
Once again the walk back to Marcus' quarters was in silence. But this time, Susan was the one who didn't want to do any talking. She was angry. How could he do that to her? He kissed her knowing full well that he was involved with someone else! She silently shook her head. When was he going to get around to telling her that? Either way, she refused to let him see just how angry she was. She didn't want Marcus knowing that the kiss meant that much to her.
Upon entering his quarters, Marcus saw that his BabCom was flashing "Incoming Message". He played the message as Susan said, "I'm going to go get changed," and headed for the bedroom.
When she returned Marcus said, "I have another meeting tonight. Do you mind having dinner by yourself?"
Susan shook her head no. "I still have some more research to do anyway," she said sitting down on the couch.
"Zack is going to send 2 security officers and station them outside the door just like the other night. I have a feeling this meeting is going to run pretty late. I'll try not to disturb you when I come in," Marcus said.
"Do you still want to go to the gym tomorrow morning?" she asked.
"Yes. I noticed while we were working out, that your left side is your weaker side. I'd like to get you working with some weights to compensate for it," he said.
She looked at him curiously. "How could you tell?"
He moved over to the couch and sat down next to her. "Remember when I let you use my pike? When I was showing you how to grab anything within your reach and use it to fight back?"
Susan nodded.
"When you held the pike in your hand, your left side held it lower than your right." He added, "I had a feeling though beforehand when I saw this ....," he said, pointing to her scar.
"Yea, well, we all have scars, mine are just on the outside," she said to him.
"How did you get it?" he asked her.
She shook her head. "It's not a very pleasant memory Marcus," she said looking up at him. But for some reason it seemed important to him that he know. "But I'll tell you about it - just to prove to myself that I'm over it."
Susan sat back on the couch and gathered her legs up to her as she began. "I'm going to give you the short version though. It was about 5 years ago. My life seemed perfect at the time. I was engaged to a man that I loved with all my heart, I had a great job and great friends. I was out one night with a few of my friends when a drunk driver hit us. I'm afraid that I really don't remember much about the accident after that point. My next memory is of waking up in the hospital about 1 week later thinking that no time had gone by. What I do remember about the accident and the hours afterwards, were what my friends told me. According to them when I arrived at the hospital I was in grave condition. They immediately called a priest and administered the last rites to me. My next of kin, which was my fiancee, and all my friends were notified. They were told that I probably wouldn't make it through the night."
She looked up at Marcus before continuing on. "But I did. I survived. As it ended up, I was in the hospital for 2 weeks and out of commission for 2 months. During that time in the hospital, all my friends came by and saw me. All except the one I needed to see the most ... my fiancee. He never even came by the hospital that fateful night to say goodbye to me. When I confronted him about it, all he said was that he couldn't handle it. It was too upsetting for him to see me like that."
"Needless to say, I never married him. And to be honest, there's been no one since. Not that I haven't been asked out, but there's been no one who stirred any passion in me." She mentally added, *Until you kissed me that is.*
Susan started to ask him why it was so important that he know, when the door chimed. But before Marcus could answer it Susan said, "Marcus, we need to talk."
He nodded to her. "I know we do. We'll talk tomorrow, I promise."
=
21:45
Susan slammed her book shut. How could she concentrate on the Mechanisms of Microbial Disease, when Marcus had kissed her earlier today?
*Why doesn't he want to talk about it? I have to know! I have to know what's going on!* she said to herself.
She got up from the couch and walked into the bedroom and picked up the picture of the beautiful woman with the long, brown hair.
"I bet it has something to do with you," she said aloud. "But what? .... Who are you?" She studied the picture closely. She knew the woman was wearing an army of light uniform - not the usual Earthforce one. She also knew they were only give to a handful of people. Maybe Susan could reference the specifications through the computer? It was worth a shot.
"Computer. Bring up the names of all people issued an army of light uniform." She turned to walk away, expecting the computer to have some results for her later on. But instead the computer replied, "Five matches found."
"Display names," she said. Mumbling to herself, "Captain John Sheridan, Commander Susan Ivanova, Michael Garibaldi, Dr. Stephen Franklin and security chief Zack Allen." She couldn't believe her luck - only one woman in the bunch. "Computer display picture of Commander Susan Ivanova."
Susan's suspicions were confirmed when the exact picture she was holding in her hand appeared on the screen.
Continuing on she said, "Display all information on Commander Susan Ivanova." She carefully read every detail given to her. And then she got to the last line: Commander Susan Ivanova died from battle-related injuries on December 1, 2262.
"Oh my God," she said aloud. "She's dead."
END PART 5
Then suddenly, without warning, he broke the kiss, which caused Susan to let out a small whimper.
Marcus pulled away from her saying, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you. I'm so sorry." Before she knew it, he was on his feet offering her a hand to help her up.
She accepted his hand and started to say, "Marcus, ... " but was interrupted. She wanted to tell him that she wasn't sorry he kissed her and that they should talk about this. It was obvious to her that they both had feelings towards each other.
"We have to get going. You have your tour of MedLab at 12:00. That gives us half an hour to shower and change. When you're finished, I'll meet you back here." Without letting Susan get a word in, he turned and headed for the men's shower.
"What the hell was THAT all about?" Susan mumbled to herself.
=
The walk to MedLab was made in complete silence. Susan wanted to talk to Marcus about what happened, but it was obvious to her that he didn't want to discuss things right now. He had this heartbroken look on his face as if he had betrayed someone.
*Is that it?* she thought to herself. *He has a girlfriend or a wife and now he feels guilty about kissing me. Oh Susan how could you be so stupid? Someone as wonderful as Marcus has to be taken. You are such an idiot!*
Stephen met them as they walked into MedLab. He could tell immediately by the look on Marcus' face that he was troubled. He told Susan that Dr. Hobbs was going to take her through the first part of the tour and that he would be along shortly.
"Marcus," Stephen said. With a wave of his hand he indicated that they should talk in his office.
Marcus nodded and followed Stephen in, closing the door behind him.
"Alright what's going on?" Stephen began.
Marcus started pacing around the office. "Stephen, I am such a bloody fool. I can't believe I let it happen!"
Stephen was confused. "Let what happen?"
"We were working out together, she tripped, we both fell and ... I kissed her." Marcus put his hands over his face as if that would make it all go away.
*Finally,* Stephen said to himself. He was happy for his friend; it was an indication that Marcus was starting to move on. After Ivanova died, Marcus buried all his feelings. Everyone was concerned that he wouldn't be able to recover from her death. But Marcus showing interest in someone else was definitely a step in the right direction.
Stephen smiled. "Alright, so you kissed her. Was it any good?"
Marcus stopped pacing. "That's not funny Stephen! I shouldn't have kissed her! I just met her - I'm supposed to be her bodyguard! I can't believe I did something as stupid as that!"
Stephen walked over to Marcus. "It's not stupid Marcus. It's obvious that you have feelings for her; otherwise you wouldn't have kissed her. You're human, you're allowed to have feelings you know."
"Maybe, but you have more in common with her than I do!" Marcus said.
"Yes, but I'm not the one who's showing an interest in her. Besides, Tessa is coming back to the station. Tessa is the one I love," Stephen said. "Look," he said continuing on, "did she kiss you back? Was there any indication from her that she liked it?"
Marcus nodded.
"I think you should pursue this Marcus. You need to talk to her. Tell her about Ivanova. Explain to Susan what happened and that you want to go slow," Stephen said. "Tell Susan how you feel about her."
"I don't know if I can Stephen. I haven't even been able to say her name. I can't say it without thinking of Ivanova," Marcus said sadly.
"I know it's hard," Stephen said, putting his hand on Marcus' shoulder. "As your friend all I'm going to say is: Ivanova died without knowing how you felt about her. Don't make the same mistake again Marcus."
Marcus nodded. "I'll try .... maybe tonight."
Stephen was pleased. "Good. And don't forget, if you want to talk you know where to find me." Stephen continued, "Why don't you grab something to eat. Susan's probably going to be in MedLab for a few hours."
"I can't. I'm the bodyguard remember? I have to stick around here," Marcus said.
"Have to, or want to?" Stephen asked.
Sheepishly Marcus said, "Maybe a little of both."
Stephen nodded; he'd gotten the answer he had hoped for. Marcus was returning to the land of the living. "Why don't you just hang out here in my office. This way you're in MedLab in case anything happens, and you still have some space to deal with this situation."
"It's a good idea. Thanks Stephen," Marcus said.
Stephen turned and left Marcus alone with his thoughts.
=
They ended up leaving MedLab around 18:00. Stephen had been excited about some of Susan's theories. If she did join the Alliance, he would love for her to work in MedLab. She would be an asset to the team.
Once again the walk back to Marcus' quarters was in silence. But this time, Susan was the one who didn't want to do any talking. She was angry. How could he do that to her? He kissed her knowing full well that he was involved with someone else! She silently shook her head. When was he going to get around to telling her that? Either way, she refused to let him see just how angry she was. She didn't want Marcus knowing that the kiss meant that much to her.
Upon entering his quarters, Marcus saw that his BabCom was flashing "Incoming Message". He played the message as Susan said, "I'm going to go get changed," and headed for the bedroom.
When she returned Marcus said, "I have another meeting tonight. Do you mind having dinner by yourself?"
Susan shook her head no. "I still have some more research to do anyway," she said sitting down on the couch.
"Zack is going to send 2 security officers and station them outside the door just like the other night. I have a feeling this meeting is going to run pretty late. I'll try not to disturb you when I come in," Marcus said.
"Do you still want to go to the gym tomorrow morning?" she asked.
"Yes. I noticed while we were working out, that your left side is your weaker side. I'd like to get you working with some weights to compensate for it," he said.
She looked at him curiously. "How could you tell?"
He moved over to the couch and sat down next to her. "Remember when I let you use my pike? When I was showing you how to grab anything within your reach and use it to fight back?"
Susan nodded.
"When you held the pike in your hand, your left side held it lower than your right." He added, "I had a feeling though beforehand when I saw this ....," he said, pointing to her scar.
"Yea, well, we all have scars, mine are just on the outside," she said to him.
"How did you get it?" he asked her.
She shook her head. "It's not a very pleasant memory Marcus," she said looking up at him. But for some reason it seemed important to him that he know. "But I'll tell you about it - just to prove to myself that I'm over it."
Susan sat back on the couch and gathered her legs up to her as she began. "I'm going to give you the short version though. It was about 5 years ago. My life seemed perfect at the time. I was engaged to a man that I loved with all my heart, I had a great job and great friends. I was out one night with a few of my friends when a drunk driver hit us. I'm afraid that I really don't remember much about the accident after that point. My next memory is of waking up in the hospital about 1 week later thinking that no time had gone by. What I do remember about the accident and the hours afterwards, were what my friends told me. According to them when I arrived at the hospital I was in grave condition. They immediately called a priest and administered the last rites to me. My next of kin, which was my fiancee, and all my friends were notified. They were told that I probably wouldn't make it through the night."
She looked up at Marcus before continuing on. "But I did. I survived. As it ended up, I was in the hospital for 2 weeks and out of commission for 2 months. During that time in the hospital, all my friends came by and saw me. All except the one I needed to see the most ... my fiancee. He never even came by the hospital that fateful night to say goodbye to me. When I confronted him about it, all he said was that he couldn't handle it. It was too upsetting for him to see me like that."
"Needless to say, I never married him. And to be honest, there's been no one since. Not that I haven't been asked out, but there's been no one who stirred any passion in me." She mentally added, *Until you kissed me that is.*
Susan started to ask him why it was so important that he know, when the door chimed. But before Marcus could answer it Susan said, "Marcus, we need to talk."
He nodded to her. "I know we do. We'll talk tomorrow, I promise."
=
21:45
Susan slammed her book shut. How could she concentrate on the Mechanisms of Microbial Disease, when Marcus had kissed her earlier today?
*Why doesn't he want to talk about it? I have to know! I have to know what's going on!* she said to herself.
She got up from the couch and walked into the bedroom and picked up the picture of the beautiful woman with the long, brown hair.
"I bet it has something to do with you," she said aloud. "But what? .... Who are you?" She studied the picture closely. She knew the woman was wearing an army of light uniform - not the usual Earthforce one. She also knew they were only give to a handful of people. Maybe Susan could reference the specifications through the computer? It was worth a shot.
"Computer. Bring up the names of all people issued an army of light uniform." She turned to walk away, expecting the computer to have some results for her later on. But instead the computer replied, "Five matches found."
"Display names," she said. Mumbling to herself, "Captain John Sheridan, Commander Susan Ivanova, Michael Garibaldi, Dr. Stephen Franklin and security chief Zack Allen." She couldn't believe her luck - only one woman in the bunch. "Computer display picture of Commander Susan Ivanova."
Susan's suspicions were confirmed when the exact picture she was holding in her hand appeared on the screen.
Continuing on she said, "Display all information on Commander Susan Ivanova." She carefully read every detail given to her. And then she got to the last line: Commander Susan Ivanova died from battle-related injuries on December 1, 2262.
"Oh my God," she said aloud. "She's dead."
END PART 5