"All you have to decide, is what to do with the time that is given to you."

************************************************************* Susan sat in silence. Her decision was made. She knew what she must do- only finding the courage to stand up and walk away was difficult.

Draal- or at least the holographic representation of him sat beside her. Any small gesture of comfort he could give her seemed irrelevant. She felt like a prisoner on death row- dead if she did, damned if she didn't.

"I am sorry to have asked this of you," Draal finally spoke.

Ivanova turned to him and sighed wearily. "I've faced certain death before, but to know you've been living for nothing is..." She trailed off. Her universe, her very existence lying in a million pieces.

"You and I are very alike," Draal began. "I was lost in the universe, unchallenged. My greater peers and friends passed beyond. I was also ready to pass, until I was called to this place."

Again he was silent. Words of comfort failing him. In these times, he always turned to the words of others:

"To die for a cause is indeed noble, To live for one is far greater."

She raised a smile and turned to him. "Who said that?"

"Valen."

Susan sighed deeply, then stood. Wordlessly, Draal passed a time stabiliser into her hands.

**************************************************************

Sector 14 loomed closer and closer. The instructions were to wait fifty or so kilometers outside until a specified time, when Draal would re-open the rift and she would pass through it. All the bases were covered. Her ship was now equipped with a time drive, because of its small size the stations censors could not detect it, this doubly determined by its Minbari design.

How did Jeff manage it? How had he gone into the rift- knowing he would not return? How had he managed to keep it from them? Typical that Marcus had figured it out. Well even the surprise ending had eluded Marcus.

Suddenly, a great beam of light flashed beside the ship from Epsilon 3.

Ivanova inhaled deeply, about to take the plunge. Journeys end.

*************************************************************

His mind raced. Turning over probabilities and possibilities with his life rapidly running short. Edging towards his demise relentlessly. Oh God, he was too young to die. He always thought he'd make it to forty at least. Maybe keel over and have a coronary from the stress of trying to figure out how to keep the company afloat. He never wanted to be a hero. He didn't believe in cowardice or heroism. Just self-preservation. Besides, heroes always had bad endings. He fully realized he was heading to one when he found himself completely paralyzed.

The ship had easily breached the hull of brown sector. If she'd had time she would have left a note for herself regarding hull integrity and the censor update the station was so badly in need of. Slipping through uneasy had just been too easy. Having an identic memory, Susan had remembered every access code for ever post she'd ever served on. Getting to med-lad had been easy. The hard part was to come. Entering Med-lab, Ivanova found the chaos Marcus had left in his wake. People and objects strewn across the floor in grief stricken and determined temper. For the most part the lights were dim, waiting for the onset of a peaceful death. "Lights," she commanded not realizing the volume of her own voice as it brushed against the walls in the darkness.

Like an eclipse suddenly alleviated the light showered the room throughout, revealing two figures in what had previously been a dark corner. There she saw Marcus, slumped beside her younger self, and to her horror the healing device had already been activated.

No. She couldn't have come so far to be too late.

He couldn't breathe. His lungs were frozen in agony. Marcus panicked. He didn't want to die. Not alone. Not like this. But he was out of time- and out of air.

Ivanova ripped the healing device from his wrist, bringing small areas of flesh with it.

Marcus wasn't breathing.

It was gone. The pain was gone. He still couldn't move but it had stopped.

Susan's hand shot to his neck. His skin was still warm, and to her relief she found a single heartbeat.

He heard a voice.

"Don't die now you stupid son-of-a-bitch!"

Nothing. Then another beat, but no breathing.

"Breathe dammit!"

Maybe it was time his luck changed.

As she went to roll him over to try and resuscitate him, Susan saw his chest rise uneasily. He could have taken much air in, but he was breathing.

The inability to pass out completely the healing device had given Marcus was fading quickly. He was going to live. Why didn't he think of this before?

She checked his pulse again. It was there. It was irregular, and it was weak, but it was there. Her hand moved from his neck and brushed against his face.

Susan turned back to her younger self. The effect the healing device had given her was seemingly leaking out of her. She grew weaker by the moment, spiraling back towards death. The older Ivanova reached into her pocket, the piece of paper was still there. It was identical to the paper that would be found on Marcus, except she had left her own message on the back.

She placed the device around her wrist and felt its effects almost immediately. Within a few moments she collapsed from sheer intensity of pain.

In a few minutes, the circle closed.

**********************************************************

Hope you liked, thanks for reading. Anyone wanna know what happens next? (Answer yes here) Good, glad to hear it! Cause one of the reasons this has taken so long is because I've been re-writing the fifth series (yes most of it!- told you I was crazy!—I could almost rival Wayne Rogers and Alan Alda rehearsing scenes they'd already shot!)

It's kinda like JMS said it was suppoed to be like (if a certain actress hadn't dropped out no names mentioned)- Don't think it's gonna be all picnics and berries- we have harrowing Drama- lotsa spoo and the return of the Lumati ambasidor! Look out for Tempus Fugit: Rising Star (Hey- this is the only Season 4 one I'm doing!)

Thank you!

Crazy ranger.

Comments, gripes and lawsuits to: greenday_86_no_return@yahoo.com