A/N: Oct 21, 2012: And I keep on rolling...

Disclaimer: I do not own The Lost World.

Chapter 16:

Soon all the explorers were brought up into the tree house and assigned rooms where they could stay in. All of them were dead tired after the long journey so they went off to bed after they ate. Roxton suspected they were also attempting to give them some space.

The original five explorers sat around the table, awaiting each other's tales.

"You two first," Marguerite said with authority.

Veronica took a deep breath and dove right in. "Well, when we fell off the cliff we landed in the ocean. We were alive but we were essentially stranded. We lived off whatever we could find."

"After about a month of camping here and there and following the shore line, one morning we heard voices. That's when we found a camp. It turned out my very good friend Jason Alexander Smith had been sent on his own expedition for gold. We were able to go home with them," Roxton explained, taking over the story telling.

"You two were in London?" Marguerite asked eagerly. "Has it changed?"

"It hasn't changed much. Grown a little, that's all," Roxton replied.

"The first thing we did was find Roxton's mother. We stayed with her this entire time," Veronica said.

"Get to the part where you two got married and why," Malone said dryly.

"Umm... well... a man from immigration came to us soon after our arrival. He told us that I was illegally in the country and that if I intended to stay I had to marry a British citizen. So..." she trailed off, letting the rings on their fingers do the rest of the talking.

"So, this is real?" Challenger asked, pointing at the wedding bands.

"I'm afraid so. It's something we need to take care of when we go back," Roxton added.

"We?" Malone inquired.

"Go back?" Marguerite echoed.

"All of us. We know the way off the plateau," Roxton informed calmly.

"You're kidding?" Marguerite asked, skeptically.

"No," Veronica confirmed simply.

"I'm dreaming." Marguerite grabbed hold of Malone's arm, hugging it to her. "Pinch me so I'll wake up, Ned."

Roxton reached over to Marguerite, taking hold of her free hand. She instantly let go of Malone. "This is real. We're alive and we can go back anytime you want," he said gently.

Marguerite stared at his hand unsurely, her eyes lifted to meet his. Roxton could still see the disbelief there. Finally, she turned to Malone, who nodded at her, assuring her that this was reality.

Roxton and Veronica noticed how she looked to Ned for assurance. The pair exchanged a wary glance.

"So," Roxton started loudly, ending the quiet moment between the two. "How about you tell us what's been happening here while we've been gone."

"We thought you were dead," Challenger said candidly. "We mourned your loss. Summerlee never came back, so we had no reason to believe that you two could have survived."

"Oh, yes!" Veronica suddenly interrupted. "We almost forgot to tell you. Summerlee is alive and well in London."

"The old boy is alive?" Challenger asked excitedly.

"Yes, he survived the fall, as well," Roxton said happily.

"Oh," Marguerite said in wonder. "This is… this is too much." She was suffering from information overload. She got up to pace the room.

Malone stood up, putting his hands on her shoulders, stopping her in her tracks. "Hey, are you all right?"

"Yes," she breathed out. She took a few deep breaths, attempting to calm herself. "I'm fine." He continued to give her a disbelieving look. "Don't worry about me."

Malone's frown told her that it was unlikely he'd heed her words.

Roxton and Veronica watched this entire exchange. They were dumbfounded by the tenderness between the pair. It hadn't existed before.

"Why don't you continue telling us what happened," Roxton said abruptly. He did not like this new closeness that Malone and Marguerite had; in a word, he was jealous.

Malone gently urged Marguerite back to her seat, aware that curious eyes were on them.

Challenger helpfully continued the storytelling. "Well, we've been living day to day since you've been gone. For the first three months we didn't do anything other than eat, sleep and sit around. Then we tried to get into our daily routines while making adjustments for your absences. We were devastated."

"Marguerite hardly ate a month's worth of food in those three months," Malone added solemnly.

"I thought you looked thinner," Roxton commented to Marguerite. "Are you sure you're all right?"

She gave him a smile. "I'm much better, now that you two are back," she replied affectionately.

"So our lives have been uneventful compared to yours," Challenger told them.

"I see," Veronica said. Somehow, she wasn't as convinced of that as he was. Either he didn't seem to notice, or didn't want to notice, that Marguerite and Malone were very close. Something had happened there, she was sure of it.

"It's getting late. I'm exhausted, as you two should be, would you mind if I turned in?" Challenger suddenly asked.

"Not at all, Challenger," Veronica assured, giving his hand an affectionate pat.

"Go right ahead, George. We'll talk more in the morning," Roxton stated.

Each one hugged him before he headed to his room.

"Uneventful, huh?" Veronica cut into the silence, voicing her earlier thoughts. "It didn't look uneventful when we stepped out of the elevator."

Malone and Marguerite blushed on cue.

"So..." Roxton prompted, knowing full well there was more to the story than where Challenger left off.

"I was a mess… when I thought you'd died. I probably wouldn't have gotten through it without Ned. He kept me alive and gave me something to live for," Marguerite revealed.

"We comforted each other," he added.

"So, it's serious?" Veronica asked somberly.

The two looked at each other and then back at Veronica and Roxton.

"We honestly don't know what it is," Malone answered for the both of them.

Both Roxton and Veronica appreciated the honest answer, but it didn't mean that it still didn't hurt.

"Well," Veronica finally breathed out. "I'm with Challenger. I'm exhausted. I think I'll go to bed."

"As am I. Are our rooms the same?" Roxton asked, unable to keep the bitterness out of his tone. This wasn't quite the homecoming he'd been expecting.

Marguerite nodded in answer. They continued to sit while both Roxton and Veronica exited the room, heading for their own bedrooms.

The room was dead silent when Malone spoke up. "Marguerite..." he trailed off, not knowing exactly what he wanted to say.

"Ned, I—I—" she stopped herself, taking a breath. "I need to think," she finished, leaving him to sit there alone.

Malone sat there, letting out a sigh. He knew exactly how she felt; he, too, needed to do some serious thinking. Everything was different now.

In these past nine months, he had grown close to Marguerite, closer than he'd ever thought possible. He loved her, it was that simple.

But, the part that complicated things was that he was still very much in love with Veronica. And that was a love that he'd always felt deeply. Ever since the first day he'd met Veronica he'd been in love with her. Seeing her now, knowing that she was alive, brought that love to life again.

What am I going to do? he thought.

He loved Veronica, but he loved Marguerite, too. He had a lot of thinking to do tonight.

Well that's it for this chapter. Thanks for reading. :)