There you go kids… it's rushed slightly, but I just wanna get this one finished and get to Paragon… that's where the meat is! (Plus I wanna go to the pub!) Anyway… like it lump it whatever… never fear, Marcus be here.

Love, love, Kiss kiss,

Crazy

It was the early hours when Susan finally found it within herself to leave Byron. She knew already it had been a mistake, and that she didn't love him in any way. She stood and subtly began to pick her way out of the darkness, knowing that the longer she stayed, the harder it would be to go.

"You're leaving?" Byron's voice came out of the darkness. Susan stopped and turned. She didn't want a confrontation with him.

"I have to go back." She replied shortly, adding nothing more to that simple truth.

He got up and stood in half shadow where Susan was able to make out his figure. "Do you?"

They paused, both knowing he asked for the impossible. Finally, he bridged the awkward silence between them. "I'm sorry, I know you do."

There was sadness in his voice, the fact he was loosing her back to the real world far sooner than he had hoped for. Unable to remain for Byron's mind stretching forward and beckoning her back, Susan headed towards the light.

"Susan." He called her back. She froze at the door, even though every instinct told her to leave.

"Don't forget us." He added, aware of the irreconcilable differences between them. "We live in two different worlds as much as we can, but we are the same. Don't forget we're here."

She wanted to turn back to him, to thank him for his kindness but no words came. But he knew as she wordlessly left she was grateful.

Back in the real world, reality seemed hard to deal with. Luckily it seemed that everyone had assumed that she'd gone to bed, hearing that Londo hadn't been attacked and she could do nothing to rectify the situation. It was just as well she'd gone back when she did, She'd been linked by Zac to tell her she was needed in a dockers guild dispute. Susan had seemingly got away with being unaccounted for, for an entire night.

There was only one person who worried her, one person who had a knack for solving mysteries and spent his life on her tail. If Marcus knew she'd spent the night in down below he'd have a fit. Sooner or later she'd catch up with him, and if he knew, she didn't know how she'd explain her way out of it. But lately things didn't go well for Marcus, and she doubted he'd be doing much of anything for a while.

That was until she opened the transport tube doors mid-morning to see him slanted slightly against a wall, not moving to stand as she entered. She had to keep her cool, odds were he knew nothing.

"Hi," He began curtly, looking her up and down in a way that made her tense up.

"Hey." She greeted him in return, returning the favour of gazing at him. God, he looked terrible. He looked as though he were still getting thinner, and he seemed more pale that the last time she saw him.

"You look I feel." She finally murmured, begging for a response. Things were still so awkward between them, and seeing Marcus like this didn't help. She was so comforted when he drew in a long breath and delivered a long winded reply.

"Trust me, you can't feel this bad. Its humanly impossible to feel this bad. With myself being the obvious exception." He smiled weakly, and she almost sighed with relief. For one, he wouldn't react like that if he knew she'd been in down below all night, secondly, it was a glint of the Marcus she knew all too well. Underneath the ever growing pale skin, was the humour of her friend.

"That good huh?" She replied

"Yep." He returned curtly.

"I thought you said you were sleeping better."

"Sleeping isn't the problem, waking up is." He told her, in a matter of fact way. "I've just been asleep for 48 hours straight."

Susan smiled, "I wondered where you'd got to." She absently murmured.

"It wouldn't be so bad if I woke up feeling any better, but I'm not." Marcus continued, ignoring her wondering at his whereabouts. She looked at him for a moment, trying to work out what he was getting at without reading his mind. He didn't seem in pain, he seemed more frustrated, and angry.

"Oh?" She asked simply, trying to bring the information out of him.

"Oh doesn't begin to cover it." He replied, folding his arms in a definite gesture. Something else was going on.

"What's wrong?" She asked, seeing that he was clearing upset about something else.

He sighed, unfolded his arms and looked at his feet, trying to avoid saying it as if to make it not so. Finally he looked up and straight at her.

"Lenniers gone."

"What?" Susan asked, not sure that she had heard him correctly.

"I spoke to Delenn this morning she told me- that Lennier had returned to Minbar and joined the Rangers." He informed her, his teeth almost gritted.

"Whow. That's kind of sudden." Susan said more to herself than Marcus. She could see he was hurt by this.

"So sudden he didn't wake me up to say goodbye." Marcus half snarled. She'd seen him so upset he'd torn a room of people apart, but this seemed worse. As if the world was slipping by him. "What is it lately?" he continued, seeming to start on a rant. "Has the custom of saying goodbye slipped into the archaic without my knowledge, or have I become immensely unpopular!"

"Marcus," She began, trying to find the right words to calm him down.

He began to say something else, but thought better of it. "Sorry, I'm rather annoyed, to put it mildly."

"How about fuming?" She corrected him, trying to diffuse the situation. She didn't know if Marcus was in any condition to go and do something stupid, but she'd rather not risk finding out.

"If it works for you." He mumbled before holding a long pause. "He's doing this for all the wrong reasons." He finally said. "Joining the rangers won't solve his problem. If he'd just talked to me, I could of convinced him not to go."

Thinking for a moment before she replied, Susan put it as honestly as possible. "Then that's probably why he didn't want to see you."

"Maybe" He replied, before cutting himself off with a yawn. "Oh for fu-"

"What?" Susan asked him, knowing that particular word was rarely used as a Marcusism.

"I've been up three hours and I'm exhausted." He explained, rubbing his eyes. "Would you do me a favour?"

"Sure." She replied, knowing full well that the amount of sleep he'd been having was not healthy.

"Call me in 24 hours, if you don't hear from me. Otherwise I'll spend the rest of my life asleep." He managed to get out before he yawned again. "Dammit!" Marcus yelled before quieting down to a low mutter. "I hate this."

"Which part?"

He looked to her, and she saw the tiredness in his face, the look of a resigned man. He seemed beaten. "The part that concerns the fact I've no idea what's going to happen, or if I'll get any better. And knowing exactly how to deal with it would help."

The tube stopped and the doors opened, Susan was about to leave feeling much worse than she had entered.

"See you." Came the well wishing.

"Sleep well." She told him before stepping outside. Realising at that moment she had forgotten something. "Marcus wait!" She yelled. He reached out and stopped the transport, then leaned slightly through the still open doors.

Susan hadn't had the chance to ask anyone question of the day. "D'you know what happened to Londo?"

"Oh you don't know?" He began.

Susan swallowed, praying to god it wasn't bad news. That was the last thing she needed.

"According to Delenn, Stephen says he'll be fine." Marcus came out with to her enormous relief. "We should all be so lucky." He concluded with, leaning back inside the tube before the doors closed.

Be back soon my prettys… stay in school, happy new year etc.

Crazy Ranger: