A/N: Oct 20, 2012: And here's another one... Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Lost World.

Chapter 14:

"That was absolutely delicious, Marguerite," Challenger praised. "Thank you for cooking dinner."

"Like I had a choice," Marguerite muttered under her breath.

Malone grinned broadly. "What was that, Marguerite?"

"I said, of course, George, it was my pleasure," she said with fake cheerfulness.

"Yes, that's what I thought," he said with a chuckle, earning himself a glare from Marguerite.

"Why don't Malone and I take care of the dishes," Challenger offered.

"How kind of you, George," she answered, shooting Malone a smug smirk. "I think I'll go for walk."

"Stay inside the fence," Malone warned with concern. He did not like the idea of her out alone at night, even within the safety of the electric fence.

"I will," she assured, grabbing her rifle. She made her way to the elevator; calling out, "See you in a bit."

Marguerite was grateful for Challenger's reprieve from the kitchen. She needed the fresh air; the exercise would do her good. She began walking circles around the tree trunk. Truthfully, she just needed some time alone to think.

Her thoughts and feelings about Malone were pretty intense these days. She cared for him so much. In the days and months after the tragedy of losing Roxton and Veronica, he'd been her lifeline. She'd sunk into a deep depression, a dangerous one and he had saved her.

Malone had taken on the role of filling her life with happiness. She would be forever grateful to him for being her friend. But, it went deeper. Marguerite had come to realize that she'd began to care for him in a way that ran deeper, in a more than just friends kind of way. She loved him. She loved him and yet it was different than the kind of love she felt for Roxton.

Loving John had been eternal, the emotion so strong, all consuming. Roxton was the first person to see through the mask she put up around people. He'd broken through her shields and made her care about him when she had never truly cared for anyone else before. It was because of Roxton that she had been able to come to care for Veronica, Challenger, Summerlee and Malone. It was because of her love for Roxton that she was able to love Malone.

It still hurt so much to think about the love she had lost. And these dreams she'd been having lately weren't helping. All she could think about was the possibility of him being alive and the ramifications that came with that. What would happen to the relationship she'd been building with Malone? Would she drop him just like that if Roxton were magically alive?

And then came the confusion. Her warring feelings for Malone, the man that was here and alive, and for Roxton, the man that was merely a ghost now, wreaked havoc with her emotions.

Marguerite was deep in thought when something shiny on the ground caught her eye. Curious, she bent down to have a better look. A metal button? She recognized it as one off of Roxton's shirts.

Picking it up, she gasped for breath as she was instantly bombarded by images.

She saw Roxton and Veronica with a bunch of strangers, walking through dark caves. She saw them get attacked by cannibals in those caves. She watched as they defeated them, one by one. Finally, they reached the outside world after running the rest of the caves. Somehow she knew this was all taking place on the plateau.

The vision's fast forwarded, only to see them get attacked by even more cannibals. Once again, they outwitted them. She could see Roxton's lips move, but no sound came out. And that's when something horrific happened. She watched, helplessly, as an arrow came from nowhere to hit him in the chest. He fell to the ground. Her vision faded to black.

A moment later, she came to, finding herself lying prone on her side on the ground.

"Roxton," she whispered. "No…"

With all her strength, she managed to push off the ground. She started to run, not knowing exactly where she was going, but that she just had to go, she had to get closer.

Marguerite ran and ran, branches slapping at her face, snagging her clothes. None of it mattered. When she tripped and fell, she got up right away and continued to run.

She didn't know how long she'd been at it, but, after a while, she heard voices off in the distance. The more she ran, the clearer they became. Soon, she saw a group of people ahead of her and she knew, she just knew that that was where she had to be.

"Roxton!" she cried out as she stumbled into the circle of people.

The whole group looked up at her in shock. She stared back at the strange faces.

"Marguerite?" Veronica pushed in between them, coming to stand before her.

Marguerite couldn't ever remember being happier at seeing someone alive and well. She ran to her, embracing her.

"My God, I can't believe it, you're alive?" she whispered; tears streamed down her face.

"Yes," Veronica replied, hugging her fiercely.

Pulling back, Veronica wiped at her watery eyes, taking in Marguerite in awe. They'd made it…

"Where's John?"

"Over here," Lex said to her.

Everyone moved off to the side, revealing Roxton to her. He was lying on the ground, unconscious. She instantly rushed to his side.

"Oh my God, is he all right?" she asked, frantically looking to someone for answers.

"Yes, I think so. He's very lucky. If the arrow had gone any lower, it may have killed him instantly," Rogue spoke up, being the only one in the group to have some medical training.

Marguerite nodded her thanks to the young woman and then focused all her attention on the man before her. "John, I'm here now, everything is going to be all right."

Her mouth dropped open when his eyes began to flutter. Finally, his lips parted to whisper, "Marguerite?" His voice was hoarse; someone handed her a water flask. She put it to his lips and he sipped. "Marguerite… is it really you?"

"Yes, John, it's me," she replied, tenderly stroking his hair.

"Am I dreaming?" he asked.

"No, I really am here. We're together again," she said, smiling at him. And I'm never leaving your side again…

And that's it for this chapter. Please review. Thanks!