I know, I know - I am a very bad person for not updating for so long. (Well, and to be honest, it would have taken a whole bit longer if it hadn't been for natters reminder). So here it is, part six.

Still, checking up on this story, I realized how long and tedious it was to read, (and with a l o t more to come), I made a little summary. However, it is only thought of as a reminder, if you haven't read the first chapters you probably should start there, otherwise I think the whole enjoying-the-story-thing, kinda passes you by. Now enough chattering, on with the story!

And as always. Never hesitate to comment with a little review, if the urge should strike you! ;)

Summary (ch1-5):

As well-known writer Nathan Gray comes to Minbar to celebrate the release of his latest book, President Sheridan, Delenn, Garibaldi and G'Kar see it as a great opportunity for peacekeeping activities. But the calm soon is disturbed by an attack on Gray, that luckily ends without great physical damages. Nevertheless no other than Susan Ivanova appears on the crime- scene, getting herself into a dispute with the slightly injured writer. Short time after that, John finds out about riots in Geneva. As a result, John, Delenn, Michael, Stephen Franklin, G'Kar, Susan and Nathan take a White Star and head towards Earth, oblivious of the two stowaways on the ship. The one is, as they soon find out, the assassin hired to kill Gray. Just before it's too late they discover that he has created some sort of a bomb and Susan who is chasing the other blind passenger is asked to steal time, so that they can evacuate the ship before it's too late. Susan, who just had found out about Marcus, recently revived by Dr Franklin, does this with the Rangers help. Just before the ship explodes, they manage to get out. However, the impact of the explosion throws them far away from the others. Shocked, they try to accept what they think is Susan's death and head for Geneva without them. Susan and Marcus find themselves slightly bruised on a strange ship, the Golden Knight, and while they make acquaintance with the odd crew, the others get caught.

That's it! _________________________________________________________________

Chapter 6: Disregarding Godot

Geneva, Saturday evening

Moving his gaze from the ground and to the man in front of him, he saw what had made him stop. Black boots, black pants, black raincoat. Black gloved hands that held the gun and a soft, heart shaped face that looked him right in the eyes. Right in the brain. The man noticed his stare and smiled.

"Yes. It is exactly as you fear."

He made a waving gesture towards the others.

"If you please follow me, ladies and gentlemen."

"Who are you, where are you taking us?"

"Well, dear lady, I don't think you are in the position to ask questions like these. But if it pleases you: In time you will know."

"I knew it! They never stop bugging us!" Michael whispered to Sheridan when they followed the men along the rainy grey road.

"I heard that, Mr. Garibaldi," the man said, grinning broadly.

"Maybe we should stay silent, at least until we know what we're up against," John suggested in a hushing voice.

They moved towards a waiting black van that stood across the street. On arriving, they were shoved into it and driven off to who-knows-where.

*** Space, Time questionable

Susan was far away but, too, who-knows-where. She had tried to peek at the screens on the bridge before George had led her to her temporary quarters. In the end it didn't matter, she couldn't understand the readings anyway, they were strange and although in Interlac totally off the usually spaceship vocabulary. So now, she was banned to her room like a naughty child and all she could see was space and stars and some more black emptiness. She usually loved the look, from the bridge of her ship or C&C. But not here. Here the look made her pace and mutter very unflattering Russian curses. Lucy, the "captain" had told them that she would meet them at dinner at 2000 hours and not a second earlier, to discuss matters, and so far, it was just past two.

Suddenly she heard a suppressed noise in front of her door.

"Marcus?"

The door opened a slight bit.

"No, sorry Madame, sorry to disturb you, I just came to fetch some pipes."

She saw the heavy, grey face of the huge Drazi form in the gap.

"Yum-Yum? Eh? Teddy?"

"Yes."

"Well, come on in, pick what you need, I sure have lots of pipes."

She looked at the mass of scrap metal that took up most of the space in her tiny room.

"Thank you, Madame."

The Drazi replied with a humble bow and entered. When he came in it struck Susan how gigantic he was. She had never seen a Drazi as big; he had to be at least eight feet tall. The giant noticed her gaze and smiled friendly.

"You are wondering about my size?"

"Well, I- I erm, well, yes, Drazi have usually the same size as I, maybe even a little smaller, at least those who I've met." Susan blurted out, startled by this direct approach. "I'm-. I am sorry. I-"

Instantly she regretted her impolite words. His height was not her business; what did she know - maybe he even had a complex about it.

"Why should you be sorry, Madame, it is a perfectly good question. Have you ever been to my home world?"

She shook her head.

"Well then, I am sure you've never seen a large Drazi like me. We don't travel."

"Oh?"

"I'm an Arot-Drazi. Roughly translated you could say that means 'Mountain- Drazi'. We are this large, whereas the 'Fedo-Drazi' the others, in the cities and villages, are as small as you, Madame. We're different tribes."

He spoke slowly, but with a friendliness that overwhelmed the jaded woman. However, most of all, he had caught her easy-to-catch curiosity.

"But if your people don't travel, then why are you here?"

"Oh, Madame! Because I am incredibly lucky!"

She looked at him dumbfounded. Landing on the Golden Knight rather seemed as misfortune to her than luck.

"The Arot-Drazi are.outcasts."

Teddy said, as if he was trying to tell a very dense child a fairytale.

"A long time ago, even before the green and purple began to rule, the Arot- Drazi were thrown out of the cities and villages and my people fled to the mountains. It is common knowledge that we are dumb and slow on the uptake. Therefore, we do not have any people in the government, our children are not allowed to go to school and we cannot seek help in hospitals that are financed by the state. It would be a waste of resources, you see. But other that that we can do pretty much what we want, unless we mess with the Fedo."

Lost in his own words he pondered about them for a second before continuing.

"Which in itself is not much other than keeping to yourself, hiding in the mountains. And that would not be so bad, actually, if there was enough food to get everyone by. The climate.and the pollution.- things just do not grow there properly. There is constant famine. Children get sick, the crops we have, they are not good. We are very poor. And poverty produces criminality."

Susan gave him a shocked look.

"You could say that the mountains aren't the right place for a Fedo. But - I really shouldn't complain. It could be worse, Madame, it always can," he finished, giving her another friendly smile.

"But how can that be? I have never heard of this! Not even during my time on Babylon 5. Not even when I was green leader."

"You were?" He examined her with curiosity.

"Madame, why should they speak about us, when we don't exist? . At least not other than ruthless low-life bandits that live somewhere where no one with a little bit of sanity would go?"

Susan didn't dare to catch his eyes, and held them down in shame and suppressed anger. It made her furious. Someone from outside must have noticed this! All the time she had spent with the Drazi! The Fedo. And she had actually learned to like them, at least a little, despite their arrogance. How could she be so ignorant? However, he was right, probably most people never noticed. She made a mental note to discuss this with John when everything was back to normal. When.

"How did you get here?"

"Oh, it's a long and tedious story - not at all as exiting as you might think - let's just say they found me, and let me stay."

"They're awful to you. What they said about you, and what they call you...."

A faint beam flew over his face.

"No they're not awful at all. They taught me English, I live in great comfort and apart from that they do quite a lot for me that you don't know about. Don't worry Madame, things are never as they seem." He smirked slightly but she seemed dissatisfied.

"Oh look at the time," the Drazi said peeking at the odd cuckoo clock lying on the floor. "I have to go, I believe, the history and folklore-lesson has to be over for now."

"No wait! I am so bored, please come back when you have time. I have so many questions. Or at least try to get Marcus here, could you do that, for me?"

"I will see what I can do, Madame, goodbye for now." he said smiling gently and left her all alone pacing back and forth.

*** Cell 142A, Saturday night

"What do you want?" Sheridan asked defiantly.

"I believe you should start answering your questions and stop asking."

They had been taken to a set of buildings somewhere out of town. Definitively PSI-Corps; John had thought when they passed the great, grey wall that surrounded the vast complex. Still he hadn't seen any badge or insignia that proved his theory, and that confused him. Normally these people showed of their PSI-symbol wherever they could.

Now they were all held in a small, dark cell that had the bitter smell of strong detergent. By whom, they hadn't been told, neither why. Only now, after hours of waiting, a big, old man had entered. To Sheridan he had the look of a friendly grandfather and the sound of a hellhound. John was tired, and as he looked down at the others, he saw nothing but battered faces. Delenn sat on one of the few chairs with the exhausted expression he had only seen a few times in his life. Franklin and Michael slouched on the two uncomfortable bunks with downhearted looks; G'Kar stood leaned against the wall, deeply in thought. Nathan had crept up in one corner of the floor, not uttering a single word and staring absently at nothing. Although John knew him the least, he was the one he was most worried about. He didn't seem to take Susan's sudden death very well. John couldn't say that he or one of the others did a better job, but their years during the wars had taught them to suppress any feelings. Nathan however was on the verge of going into some kind of shock.

"Well, what about some answers? Or do I have to repeat the question?"

"Since when is it forbidden to walk around in Geneva one evening?"

"Oh, it is not forbidden. Usually. But as long as things are as they are now - we can never exclude radicals."

"Radicals? Hell, he's the President of the Alliance, this is Delenn, this is Consul G'Kar - you know that!" Michael suddenly got up from his seat and approached the interrogator furiously. He swiftly backed away.

"Sure. You all are. Can you prove it?"

"Prove it?"

"Ever heard of ID-cards?" "Look, our ship blew up. We had no possibility to-"

"Well, as long as you did have "no possibility", fine for me. You can be the President, but then I get to be the King of Mars."

"What is this? You know who we are!"

"Oh, I do?"

"Look," Stephen added to the conversation, "We can take DNA-tests and this will be over in a second, then you'll know we aren't terrorists and we can go."

"Nope, no can do, no doctor available this week. Vacation."

"I am a doctor!"

"You are a suspect!"

The interrogator seemed to enjoy this thoroughly.

"This is insane! How can you even think something like that!" Delenn suddenly joined the conversation.

"Well, you're companion there is a very suspect suspect - that makes you all at least a little suspect. It's easy. I'll be back later. For a real hearing."

John traced the pointing index finger of the interrogator to Nathan, who probably hadn't even noticed the man. The realization suddenly struck him that this could take a long time. And get very difficult.

***

"Susan?"

Her eyes snapped open.

"Nathan?"

Drained by the dusty metal and a searing headache she appeared to have fallen asleep on the uncomfortable bed. Still sleepily dizzy she tried to catch up to reality. Where was she? Suddenly she remembered the ship and she recognized the voice. Not the familiar Irish-accent she had grown used to, it was British.

"Susan?"

"Oh Marcus," she said as she wearily staggered herself up. "Come in, for heavens sake!"

"Sorry" He pointed at the bed. "Didn't want to wake you."

"Nevermind. Just tried to pass the time."

Checking the clock on the floor she smiled. Seven, finally. She indicated the seat next to her on the bunk. A little awkwardly, he sat down besides her. Afraid to look at her he stared out in silent queasiness. Usually he always knew what to say, but now, when there was nothing to do, every word seemed difficult.

"I just heard the most horrible thing - Yum Yum or Teddy, the Drazi, told me. He-"

"The Drazi said you wanted-" They both started and broke it of simultaneously.

Silence, again.

"Well, I can tell you later."

"No, Susan. What did you want to say?"

"Forget it, we'll talk about it later. Do you have an idea about where we are?"

"Not the slightest. Well, we're far away from Earth, that's for sure. That wacko George told me, they never ever came close to Earth."

"Dammit. With my luck it'll take us days to get there."

"So?"

"Marcus! What do you mean - 'So?'"

"Maybe it'll take us days, maybe weeks. They think we're dead anyways."

"Yes! Exactly!"

"Does it make a difference?" His embarrassed face had been replaced by a determined one. He thought about the options. Safe and alone with the woman he loved, how could he not like the Golden Knight.

"Well, maybe you didn't notice but Geneva is like hell right now."

"More the reason to stay."

Susan suddenly stood up and looked him right in the eyes.

"Marcus? Who are you? What's happened to you in that tube?" She yelled, anger and slight fear vibrating clearly in her voice. Maybe this wasn't Marcus at all. Maybe this was some guy who had stolen his identity and the real Marcus was still dead. Maybe- "What? What do you want me to say? Come on Susan! Don't you think we could leave those stupid riots where there are for ONE moment. Can't you stop running into the next best peril available -and care about something more important?"

"And who is important? You? I live on Earth. A lot of the people I care about the most are there and you want me to take it slow? Who do you think you are? Come back from the dead and suddenly you expect my world to evolve around you?"

She was furious, he knew it. The last thing he wanted was to make her mad. Three years ago, he would have rushed off to Geneva, not because he knew anyone there, but because it was the right thing to do. Serve and protect. But now. How fragile the moments when the universe was at rest. Things could change any second. He could just close his eyes for an instant and when he opened them the world was a different one. In an instant could a ship crash in here and they would die. In an instant they could be at war. In an instant it could be too late to do the things he most of all wanted to do. Marcus didn't want that. He had done that, with William and now with Susan. He had spent too many hours in Stephen's Minbari Medlab thinking about time and events and how they never seemed to fit together. He couldn't encourage it now. Then again, he suddenly thought, as he saw Susan in front of him, strained, tired and high on irritation, maybe it was wrong to force these two to fit together, like putting the wrong pieces of a puzzle together. Susan saw his composure drop and his hands holding his face, as if saving it from a certain fall.

"I'm sorry, Susan. You're right.I'm so sorry."

"Marcus.,"she said softly crouching to look him in the weary face.

"Maybe we should hurry. There are dangers to overcome! There always are!"

For a moment she was unsure if he was mocking her. He noticed it, immediately regretting his strange words who hadn't sounded as cheerful as he had intended. He looked away and didn't notice her bending towards him. Instead, the warm breeze that brushed his face surprised him. Cautiously she lightly placed her lips on his as if encourage him to take action. Slowly he realized the situation and faster than he could grasp it, he started responding. And as fast as it had come, she pulled away, stood up, dusting off her partly torn and dirty top with a forceful strokes and extreme interest. Without looking at Marcus, Susan walked away with dynamic steps. "Come on, we'll be late for dinner!"

*** Cell 142A, Sunday morning

John dreamt of food. A steak, some Chinese delicacies, Spoo, Flarn, even spaghetti in tomato sauce. The latter made him regain consciousness at once. Delenn. Confused he took in his surroundings, looked at the others dozing jadedly in their corners. Still in the cell - waiting. 'For what?' he wondered. 'Maybe something to eat?' a childish hopeful voice inside him suggested. 'Probably not, he shushed it.' Coming back to reality, he knew that he didn't want them to come back. He knew that when they did, trouble would begin. Slowly he crawled closer to Delenn, put his head on her lap and carefully slipped his hand under hers before shutting his eyes again, dreaming of a world that no longer existed.

Yup, this was chapter 6, sorry about the lack of plot, but there were some things that are necessary further on to be said.

And cannot be said often enough: Getting a review is like birthday and Christmas at the same time! (Hope you get the hint(!)