A/N: Aug 29, 2012: And here is chapter 5's edit. Before, in its orignal form, I had a note where I had appealed to the diehard M/R and N/V fans asking them not to flame me for this chapter. I was afraid that I'd be lynched for trying something different. Well, I've had over fifteen years of writing experience and now I can conclude that different is good. So, if a little bit of M/N and R/V isn't your cup of tea, you don't have to read. But, I will add that this story will end in a way that is pleasing to those people that may not like where it seems to be going at the moment. And with that...

Disclaimer: I do not own The Lost World.

Chapter 5:

"What!" Veronica exclaimed. "I don't understand; this is completely ridiculous! How am I supposed to get married when I've only been here a week and haven't met anyone at all? I know no one, save for Lady Roxton and John. Who would I marry? "

Veronica looked as perturbed as she sounded. The idea that she'd face deportation because she wasn't a citizen was laughable. Where would they deport her to? The Plateau wasn't exactly on any map. Still, this Mr. Calaway sat before her proposing just that. It really was astounding and not in a good way.

This is unreasonable, she thought to herself, as she crossed her arms over her chest in an indignant way. What kind of stupid laws do they have here?

"Well, as I recall…" Calaway began, removing his glasses to wipe the lenses on his coat sleeve. The deliberate slowness of the gesture put Veronica further in unease. "Lord Roxton happens to be a very eligible British citizen…"

Roxton was stunned by Calaway's comment. Up until now, he'd been sitting in amusement over Veronica's reaction.

"What! You can't really expect me to— No, you're not suggesting— How could I—" Roxton was finding it very hard to finish his sentences. He was just too shocked. All his previous amusement at the situation was wiped from his face.

"Yes, Lord Roxton," Calaway said slowly. "I am suggesting that you and Miss. Layton marry."

Roxton's mother, who had been watching all this on the edge of her seat in anticipation, finally exclaimed, "Oh, wouldn't that just be lovely? We could have a big engagement party and then an even bigger wedding. I can just see it now."

Roxton stared at his mother as if he had never seen the woman ever in his life.

"And if she doesn't marry anyone, how soon would Veronica be deported?" Roxton asked, regaining his composure.

"It could be as soon as tomorrow and as late as three days from now," Calaway stated.

Their intentions were to return to the Plateau, of course. But they needed time. Time to gather the necessary supplies. And Roxton didn't think the two of them going alone would be a good idea. They needed to recruit. They needed a team.

Roxton considered all the facts for a moment. Finally he opened his mouth and spoke, "Well then, I guess there's only one thing left to do."

Veronica's eyes widened in their sockets as she stared down at Roxton, suddenly down on one bent knee. He took her hand and said, "Veronica, will you marry me?"

Pulling apart from their lengthy kiss, Marguerite and Malone took in a few deep, calming breaths as they laid back and looked to the sky. It was a black blanket with diamonds for stars tossed across it. It was definitely a sight to behold.

Marguerite broke the palpable silence first and said, "Well, that was interesting."

Malone caught the agitation in her voice and wondered out loud, "Good interesting, I hope?"

She stared at him with wide eyes. "Oh, it was definitely good."

"Really?"

"Yes, really good."

She couldn't hide the amazement from her voice. This wasn't the first kiss that they'd shared, but it was the first one to get her all hot and bothered. Marguerite just never thought that kissing the young reporter would be so incredibly satisfying. Just the way Roxton used to kiss me… she thought fleetingly.

She gave herself a mental shake, deciding it would be best if she stayed in the here and now.

Feeling it was time for a subject change, she began, "So, how long did you want to stay here?"

Malone took the hint readily. "Challenger won't be back at the tree-house for another two days. So, I suppose we should at least be there when he gets home."

Marguerite let out a reluctant sounding sigh. "I guess you're right. Though, I hate to leave this place so soon. It's so beautiful here. It's the only place on this plateau that I believe God has not forsaken," Marguerite replied.

Malone chuckled at that, and added comfortingly, "You know, we can always come back…"

"Yeah, you're right," she said, not being able to contain the yawn that followed. "I'm so tired. Why don't we get some sleep now? "

"Yeah, lets." He settled into his sleeping bag, as did Marguerite. "Good night, Marguerite."

"Good night, Ned," Marguerite replied.

The next morning, Malone woke up to the sound of screaming. He practically jumped out of his sleeping bag, grabbed his gun and looked for Marguerite who he assumed to be in grave, mortal danger. When he spotted her nearby in no apparent peril he became confused.

"Marguerite, why did you scream? I mean, you scared me half to death," he said, his nerves on the frazzled side, while walking over to her.

Her back was to him, so he couldn't see the look on her face. He had no idea what was going on, and no clue as to what had her so engrossed.

"Look!" was all she said as she pointed to something nearby.

When he looked over to where she was pointing he began to laugh at what he saw.

"Why are you laughing? We've got nothing to eat now," she yelled as she glared at Malone.

Upon closer examination, it seemed that while they were sleeping some kind of animal had gotten to their food supply.

"I thought you were being attacked by a raptor or something. You don't know how relieved I am that it's just our food that got eaten and not you," Malone stated, trying to contain his laughs but failing.

Marguerite gave him a pout. "Well, what are we going to do now?"

He shrugged his shoulders before answering. "We could do some foraging, find some food and stay a little longer. Or we could just head on home. It's up to you."

She let out a sigh. "I don't feel like walking around more than I have to. Let's head back," Marguerite decided.

"Sure. Whatever you like," Malone said, giving her a smile.

Together, they had their things packed up quickly and were ready to go in no time. The grumbles from their stomachs forced them to abandon the scenic route that they'd used to get there in the first place, deciding on a more direct route. They arrived back at the tree-house less than an hour later.

With no words, each decided to go to their separate bedrooms for a bit, needing to put away their things and freshen up. When that was done, both Malone and Marguerite stepped out of their rooms; each stood there, just looking at each other. And at seemingly the same moment, both opened their mouths and exclaimed: "I'm starved."

Sharing a quick laugh, Malone was the first to recover. "I'll get breakfast ready."

Marguerite gave his shoulder a pat and decided to take a look around the tree-house to make sure all was well. Sure enough it was, so she proceeded back to the kitchen to check on Malone.

"Smells delicious," she complimented.

"Thanks! Breakfast will be served in about five minutes."

The pair of them ate and talked, cleaned up their bit of mess. And then they settled in to a companionable silence, Malone writing in his journal, Marguerite lounging around, reading, and sewing. All in all it was a relaxing afternoon. Maybe too relaxing…

As evening approached Malone turned to Marguerite as she turned to him. Both silently declaring that they'd run out of things to do on their own.

"I'm bored," Marguerite complained. "Find me something to do."

"Hey, I'm bored, too; why don't you find me something to do?" Malone countered.

"Uh uh, I asked you first," she replied.

She watched on as he took on a contemplative look, actually considering her request. She should have known something was up when he so easily decided to take her suggestion seriously. The grin that overcame his face next should have been a dead giveaway of what he was about to say.

"Well, I can think of one thing we can do…" He looked at her rather suggestively, eyebrows arched, a smirk still in place.

She laughed easily. "I see someone's decided to be rather bold today," she teased.

"Yes, that's me, bold," he agreed, adding a melodramatic sigh he continued, "What's a guy to do when he's so bored?"

The innocent batting of his long eyelashes, combined with those baby blue eyes of his was just too hard to resist. Marguerite laughed heartily at his antics.

In a teasing mood of her own, she leaned forward as if she were about to give him exactly what he wanted. Instead of a kiss on the lips, she gave him a perfectly chaste peck on the forehead. "I've got something for you to do," she said, pulling back to take in his befuddled expression. "Go check on the garden."

Malone watched almost helplessly as she stood up and started to make her way over to the balcony, abandoning him.

"That's not exactly what I had in mind," he called after her.

She was stunned a bit by his persistence as he quickly got up and came after her. Sitting down on the balcony, she turned her head away when Malone came to sit next to her. She giggled to herself at the preposterousness of their current situation. When he suddenly kissed her cheek, she couldn't help but turn towards him.

Malone took in her surprised expression. He was in total agreement with that one look; he had no idea what he was doing. All he knew was that he had to touch her.

He took his chance, having her full attention now. When he leaned forward, closing the distance between them, to press his lips to hers, he was quite pleased when she didn't resist him. Marguerite's arms came up around his neck; taking that as permission, Malone wrapped his own around her waist, pulling her even closer to his body. His lips moved over hers slowly, in a lazy sort of way, as if they had all the time in the world. As the kiss intensified, neither of them noticed that someone had just walked into the room and was staring unbelievably at the two.

"What in God's name is going on here?' Challenger sputtered out.

The voice of their indignant friend pulled them apart, though, Marguerite's arms still clung to him and Malone's to her. They turned around to see Challenger standing in front of them, looking like he'd just arrived, giving them shocked eyes.

"Nothing that concerns you," Marguerite replied irately before stalking off to her room.

The two men took a silent moment to watch the brunette's retreat. She was definitely on the annoyed side at having been interrupted.

"What are you thinking, Malone?" Challenger reprimanded, a disapproving look on his face. "Didn't we already have this conversation? Recently, I might add. And from what I remember you agreed with me."

Malone put on a displeased look of his own. He did not enjoy being made to feel like an unthinking adolescent. He was a man and Marguerite was a grown woman. They knew what they were doing.

"Just," Malone began tersely. "Back off, Challenger. We're both adults, all right. We know what we're doing. And… it isn't any of your business."

"None of my business, indeed," Challenger repeated sounding hurt.

Malone felt instantaneously horrible. He opened his mouth to apologize but the older man began to stomp away, heading in the direction of his lab.

The next morning ~ ~

Malone was slow to get up the next morning. Awake, he lingered in his bed. A lot of thoughts were running through his mind; they were the same ones that had kept him up late into the night. It was hard to get both Marguerite and Challenger out of his head; the situation with each friend confusing in their own ways.

He was enjoying this newfound 'thing' he had started with Marguerite. Malone had no other way to describe what they were experiencing. It was a 'thing' because they had yet to really talk about all the kisses they'd shared. All he knew was that when he was with her, laughing together, teasing, or kissing, he felt like three months ago they both hadn't lost the loves of their lives. And that feeling, too, set his mind off all over again, making him wonder if he was being traitorous to Veronica and Roxton.

The whole mess with Challenger had kept him up even more. Yes, Challenger was butting in, but only because he was concerned for the both of them.

He doesn't want to see us hurt… he thought sadly. And how do I repay him by being rude and disrespectful… I've got to make things right, right away.

Malone dressed quickly and made his way out of his room. "No doubt, Challenger is already awake. He's probably down in his lab," he conjectured to himself.

And there he was, right where he thought he'd be, with his back turned to Malone.

"Challenger, I need to speak with you, if that's all right," he said tentatively.

"Are you sure I won't be interfering," Challenger shot back, sounding hurt. He hadn't bothered to turn around.

"Please, Challenger. I want to apologize for last night. I was rash and ungrateful. You've done a lot for us and that was no way for me to repay you. Can you try to forgive me?"

Challenger gave him a considering look. "All right…I'm sorry for my meddling. You were right; it's none of my business. Can you forgive me?" Challenger asked.

"Of course I can," Malone replied incredulously. He had not expected an apology in reply.

"Good, so that's settled then." His old friend gave him a wary look, as if he didn't want to say what he had to say next, but knew he had to say something. "Are you going to stop this thing with Marguerite?"

It wasn't a hostile question. So he replied genteelly, "Only if she wants to."

"And I am guessing that you don't exactly want to," Challenger said a bit sternly.

"No. She makes me feel happy to be alive. Before, I felt lost, like my life was purposeless. Now, I don't know… I feel like I have a reason for living," he confessed.

"Well," Challenger began, frowning deeply. "I can't say this is exactly orthodox. Veronica and Roxton have not been gone long. But… if it makes you happy, then I'll be happy for you, too."

"Good. Thank you!" Malone exclaimed, not really knowing what to say in reply to Challenger's backhanded blessing. But he knew he was glad to have it. "I'll start on breakfast," he said eager to get the day going now that things were somewhat all right.

As he got to the top of the stairs he noticed that Marguerite was standing there.

"Good morning, Marguerite," he greeted cheerfully. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," she replied.

"You heard everything didn't you."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Pretty much,"

"So, do you have anything to add?" he asked hesitantly.

"Did you really feel like you had nothing to live for?" Marguerite asked him as she approached him, coming to a halt a foot away.

"Yes. Roxton was like a brother to me. And Veronica, she was my best friend, and I loved her," he confided.

"I know exactly how you felt…" He watched her swallow a painful lump before she continued. "I never ever imagined that I wouldn't see Roxton's face as he yet again scolded me for being greedy. Or hear Veronica's too cheerful voice in the mornings."

He smiled at the memories.

"So," he said gravely, "if you heard the whole conversation then I can ask you this question."

"If I'd like to continue the way we're going?"

"Precisely."

It was a weighty moment later before she answered. "Yes, I do. It's the first time in months that I actually feel good and it's all because of you."

"Thank you. You make me feel good, too," Malone added, grinning. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. When he pulled back it was to see that Marguerite was smiling at him happily.

And that's it for chapter 5 and its edit. Reviews of any kind are appreciated.