GENERAL DISCLAIMER: Babylon 5 and all its characters belong to JMS and Warner Brothers. I'm just playing in their forgotten sandbox, making no money at all.
AUTHOR: KerorinSama
FANDOM: Babylon 5
PAIRING: Marcus/Neroon
WARNING: m/m, implied sex
RATING: PG13 -> R
CATEGORY: slash, romance, ending in AU
SPOILERS: Maybe...Season 3 – Grey 17 Is Missing
SERIES: Not planned.
SUMMARY: Marcus's obsession with his denn'sha challenge to Neroon yields unexpected results.
A/N: This is all LadyQ's fault.
Title: Gift Wrapped
"Is he gone?" Michael asked quietly as the station commander approached their table at Earhart's.
"Yeah, we can breathe easier now," Susan Ivanova answered, eagerly seating herself by the two men and setting her drink down in front of her. "I cleared his flyer to leave the station a half hour ago. According to the flight plan he filed, he'll be gone for a whole week."
Michael Garibaldi and Stephen Franklin relaxed with visible relief, the tension in their shoulders melting like ice under a hot sun.
"I swear," Michael warned, "if I hear about that denn'sha just one more time, I am not going to be responsible for my own actions."
"You're not the only one," Susan offered.
"I know that talking about it is part of the healing process," Stephen commented sheepishly, "but he's taking it to the extreme. He's analyzing it to death."
"And driving us all crazy in the process," Susan pointedly emphasized, with a lift of an eyebrow. "It's like every single word, every single movement has some hidden meaning and he won't let it go until he figures out what it is. It's like watching him chase smoke, only he's dragging us along to help him do it."
"He's obviously been spending entirely too much time among the Minbari. Everything they do has hidden meanings." Michael raised his caff to his lips and took a slow sip. "He needs to get a life."
"Yeah, but this is his job," Stephen pointed out, almost apologetically. "And, unfortunately, I don't think he's ready to let go of his obsession over that fight. I'm at a loss as to how to get him to move on."
"I could always introduce him to my favorite airlock," Susan offered brightly.
"Maybe we could get Neroon to come back and finish the job?" Michael considered, half joking.
"Or I could just slip him a sedative until his brains become mush and he forgets about it," Stephen chuckled.
They all laughed at their ludicrous solutions for getting their friend to shut up and let go of past events. Six weeks ago, Marcus Cole had confronted Alyt Neroon of the Star Riders in Down Below and challenged the formidable warrior to denn'sha to delay him from disrupting Delenn's installation as Entil'Zha. He survived the honorable fight to the death for reasons that remain unknown to the command staff of Babylon 5 and hadn't been the same since.
"The way he keeps talking about Neroon, I'm almost of the opinion that he has a thing for him," Susan smirked.
Michael and Stephen responded with wide eyes that gradually transformed into uncertain grins, mumbles and shakes of their heads. The waiter finally arrived and they ordered dinner.
A week later, accompanied by Lennier, Marcus strode into Earhart's to join his friends after being debriefed by Delenn on the results of his latest mission. He missed the sharp intake of breath they had at seeing him again so soon. That week sure did go by fast.
"Hello," he greeted them cheerfully, as he plopped down into one of the chairs. Lennier sat down in a much more dignified manner as he inclined his head briefly and respectfully and verbally greeted his friends one by one. He looked as uncomfortable as they did and the three privately suspected that the young Minbari had been an equal victim of Marcus' constant retelling of the denn'sha. "Anything exciting happen while I've been away?"
"Marcus!" Stephen responded, his smile a tight rictus, anticipating the worst. None of them were ready for this yet. "When did you get back?"
"A couple of hours ago." He signaled the waiter and asked for tea for himself and Lennier. "I had to stop by and see Delenn first. Then Lennier and I thought we'd come by to chat you up, if you were here." He smiled. "So?"
"Same old, same old," Susan responded, forcing a smile and waiting for that conversation to start anew. "Ships come, ships go, reports of Shadow incursions, Earthforce engagements, ambassadors demanding special treatment, the usual."
"Ah," Marcus smiled. "Then I guess I didn't miss much."
"So, uh," Michael stuttered, feeling like he was about to run into a minefield. "How was your mission?"
"Mostly routine, actually," the Ranger responded. "Just some courier work, passing information back and forth. Nothing all that exciting. I'm glad to be back." He looked up as the waiter delivered their tea.
The three command staffers and the Minbari eyed him suspiciously as he continued to talk about many and sundry things, all of them devoid of his previously obsessive encounter with Neroon. Perhaps that week away from the station on a mission was exactly what he needed to let go of the topic. He didn't mention the Minbari warrior or the denn'sha even once during their subsequent dinner.
More relaxed now, Michael asked Marcus and Lennier if they had any plans for the evening and, assured they did not, invited them to join him, Stephen and Susan for a friendly game of poker in his quarters later.
With a shy smile, Lennier accepted the invitation, following Marcus' lead. He was certain this game would be far less exciting than the one he had once joined Londo Mollari for, but he really didn't mind - as long as Marcus did not bring that up again. He already felt guilty enough about his part in it, as it was. It was past time to move beyond it.
"I'll call and raise you five." Stephen threw another chip into the pot. The others followed suit. He hoped he had a decent enough hand to win this one, this time. So far, Lennier was cleaning them out. He chuckled to himself, suspecting that the naïve Minbari knew more about this game than he was letting on.
They waited for Marcus to ante up. The Ranger seemed to be a galaxy away at that moment.
"Marcus?" Stephen called out. "Are you in?"
"Hmm?" The Ranger looked up, breaking out of his reverie. "What? Oh, yes." He added a five to the pot.
"Okaaaaay," Stephen hesitantly responded, eyeing the Ranger obliquely. Something was on Marcus' mind and he had a sneaking suspicion... "Show me what you've got. Read 'em and weep. Two pair, kings and aces high."
Michael and Susan threw down their cards in disgust. They, too, had two pair, but Stephen's hand beat theirs. For once, Lennier did not win. Marcus' cards barely qualified as a hand. Stephen frowned in his direction as he raked in his pot.
Michael prepared to deal another hand. "Ante up," he called as all the cards were dealt. "Cole, are you in? Cole? Earth to Cole..."
Marcus blinked, noting the stares.
"Are you alright, Marcus?" Lennier asked quietly. "You've been rather...preoccupied...for some time now. It is most unlike you."
Michael took a deep breath as he looked about the table and reluctantly lay his cards face down. They looked like they were shaping up to be a good hand this round, too. "Anything you want to talk about?" He almost bit his tongue on his next statement. "We know something's bugging you. We're friends, after all. We might be able to help." Mentally, he kicked himself.
Marcus hesitated and declined politely. He, too, had set his cards face down. "Oh, no. I've already talked this thing to death and I'm nowhere nearer to the closure that I need than when I first started. I think I need to just work this out for myself."
Susan pressed her lips into a tight straight line, as Stephen clenched his jaw, Michael inwardly groaned and Lennier shifted uneasily.
"Out with it, Cole!" Susan barked, her eyes flashing. This was it. "You've been moping about Neroon and this denn'sha thing for weeks now and it's time you got over it! So, let's hear it. Once and for all."
"Well," he stuttered, "I guess I have been rather obsessive about the whole thing."
Stephen and Michael rolled their eyes and snickered.
"Ya' think?" Michael mumbled.
"I just can't understand why Neroon let me live," Marcus explained again. "I mean, denn'sha is to the death. When one declares denn'sha, one absolves the other of the responsibility for taking their life. I literally gave my life to Neroon. Why did he refuse to take it?"
Susan sputtered. "You...gave...your life to Neroon?!? You handed your life over to him?"
Marcus just stared at her in response and swallowed. Did he just say something new and unexpected – and perhaps foolish?
"Marcus," Lennier interjected smoothly and quietly, "did you wish to die?"
He looked at the Minbari, incredulous. "No, not...really. I just wanted..."
"What?" Stephen pounced. "What did you want?"
"You have always been rather reckless," Lennier commented authoritatively. "You once shared about having a great amount of repressed anger that fueled your actions. This new admission of yours, about willingly relinquishing the responsibility for preserving your own life, concerns me somewhat."
"I wasn't trying to get myself killed, Lennier," Marcus protested somewhat forcefully.
"Then what were you trying to do?" Michael asked. "Get Neroon to notice you?"
"No!" Marcus protested, almost too loudly. "At least...I don't...think so..."
"So, what's bothering you so much about it?" Susan was exasperated now.
"He kept offering me a way out, even though he knows the terms of denn'sha," Marcus tried to explain. "It was a legitimate challenge. Yet he kept trying to get me to back down. Me; a Human. He could have broken me in half to begin with but he didn't. There's got to be more to it that I'm missing. It started when I saw him pass by me in the access way in Down Below. I followed him and got his attention. I said, 'So. You must be Neroon.' He stopped and turned, looking at me for long seconds. Just looking at me and sizing me up like he was devouring me and he said..."
The four stared at him with the enthusiasm of a pithed frog. They couldn't believe it had started again. They couldn't believe they let it happen again. They couldn't believe they encouraged it to happen again. And, as Marcus regaled them of the event once more, as one, they realized they could take no more.
Slowly, they stood up. Michael turned around and grabbed a thick silvery ring from the nearby desk. Lennier, Susan and Stephen advanced on the Ranger, ensuring he would not get away. It was time for an intervention. Marcus' voice fell away from his lips, as he emerged from the personal history he was once again immersed in, and he noticed the determined and desperate, yet maniacal expressions in his friends' eyes.
"What are you doing?" he asked quickly, hand reaching for his pike. Lennier was faster, though, and he had been divested of his weapon. "Wait a minute!" he implored, as hands grabbed for him. He looked up sharply at the sound of duct tape being separated from its roll under Michael's satisfied grin.
It had been a long, busy day. Aboard the Ingata, Neroon sat relaxing in his quarters and reviewing his personal logs. Rather than concentrate on assessing the strategies of the Warrior Caste fleet, he chose to contemplate further the effect the denn'sha challenge from the Human Anla'shok had left him with. His life had significantly changed and still he couldn't decide if it was for the better.
He was interrupted by a call from one of his aides. "Alyt, the package you were expecting from Entil'Zha Delenn on Babylon 5 has arrived, but there is something unusual about the shipment."
"Unusual? What do you mean?"
"You told us to expect one package. There are three, all marked express delivery."
He frowned, considering what this must mean. Delenn was certainly serious about establishing and solidifying that alliance with the Warrior Caste. He would find out what this was about. "Deliver them directly to my quarters at once."
"At once, Alyt."
After his aides had departed, Neroon eyed the containers suspiciously. One was quite large and had an active life-support unit. It was the type of container used to transport live animals. The manifest was all in order and the instructions were to open the smaller containers first. The first had the ritual items he was expecting from Delenn, sealing the pact with the Warrior Caste and supporting their right to take a prominent position in the escalating Shadow war. The other smaller container held an Anla'Shok uniform, complete with Isil'zha, accessories, undergarments and a very old but familiar looking denn'bok. Neroon stared at the items, utterly perplexed. The uniform was too small to fit him and he wondered what this was all about.
Well, he decided, there was only one way to find out. Holding the denn'bok at the ready, he activated the sequence on the large container to open it.
And he stared; slack jawed.
Inside the container was the Human Anla'shok he almost killed in denn'sha on Babylon 5. Marcus Cole. Protectively ensconced in packing peanuts, bound, gagged, and naked as the day he was born. With his groin neatly and strategically decorated with a festive red bow.
Utterly overwhelmed with shock, concern and confusion, he removed the Human's gag.
"Oh, god," Marcus began, with a hint of irritation and disgust. "Neroon. Bloody hell. I'm sorry. This is all a huge misunderstanding, a sick joke played by my so-called friends on Babylon 5 station. Could you undo the restraints, please? Just you wait. When I get my hands on them..."
Seeing an envelope attached to the lid, Neroon plucked it free and removed its contents while listening to the Anla'shok babble on about what he would do to the command staff of Babylon 5 in retaliation for this unpleasant joke. It was a very short letter:
Ranger in need of some hot loving by Neroon.
He blinked as he again looked at the naked Anla'shok before him and found that he was admiring the slim and lithe physique. The many times he had reflected on the outcome of the denn'sha with the Human, he could not help but wonder what kind of relationship would now result from it. Evidently, it was time to find out.
"Neroon?" Marcus gulped, seeing that the Minbari was sporting a goofy grin.
Reaching down, the warrior grabbed hold of the Anla'shok and threw him over his shoulder.
"Neroon, what are you doing?"
The warrior strode toward the open door of his sleeping chamber.
"Neroon, wait! Put me down! Neroon!"
The door closed with a quiet swoosh, cutting off the Human's protests.
Epilogue:
Heard from behind the closed door:
"Neroon! Ah! No! What are you... Neroon... Wait... don't... ah... not there... No!... I...I can't... omigod... Nnne...Ne..roon... oh... ohhh... yes... mmmm... Great Valen... hhhhah... yes... more... Neroon... I... I... Oh, Neroon... yes... Yes... YES!!!"
And, so, it began.
The End