I'm back, and it's time to resolve the cliffhanger from 'Regaining Life'.

This is the last of my 'Re-' trilogy and will probably be shorter than 'Regaining', but don't quote me on that. Up to now I have remained completely within B5 continuity, but this piece will contradict the short story 'Space, Time and the Incurable Romantic'. The problem is that I had thought out my idea before that story was published, but as there don't seem to be too many fans that were completely happy with how that turned out then I think I am safe. As usual, all comments are welcome and thanks to Robin Floyd (The Doctor!) for helping me get this first part ready. Thanks also to Sleepy Shadow for helping me find the Dickens quote.

I had so many suggestions for re- titles that I am going to name the different parts. Keep those ideas coming. Hi to Red Wulf, Natters, MOM, Eris, Sabrina and all my reviewers.

Standard disclaimers; I don't own B5, or Marcus, or Susan. They belong to WB and JMS (All Hail to the Great Maker). Marie is mine, but other people can use her if they let me know first. This is set after SIL so knowledge of all B5 is preferred. If you don't want to be completely confused, then please read 'Rediscovering Marcus' and 'Regaining Life' first.



Part 1 - Return

Susan.
For an atheist, Marcus was surprised that he was still thinking.
He knew he was dead. He had felt his life force drain away, channelled into Susan that she might be healed. His body had shut down utterly, making it impossible to move, then speak, then see and finally breathe.
He had fully expected that to be it. But here he was; wherever here was.
Despite his immense vocabulary, Marcus found that he could not describe the nowhere place that he was. There were no dimensions, no colour, no noise, no feelings. Yet here he was.
There was also no time. He did not know if he had been here a day or a hundred years.
Well, if this was it, then at least he had been proved right in there being no heaven. It was a pity that he would never know if his sacrifice had worked. He had not been able to tell if Susan was getting stronger before he had ultimately closed his eyes. Maybe she had also died along with him and was in her own nowhere place.
Susan.
No! She must have lived. He had believed so hard that the machine would work and the Minbari had taught him that 'faith manages'.
She had to have lived.
Susan.

Something was happening. He could feel. For the first time since he had died, Marcus thought of himself as having a body; arms, legs. Was that significant?
He could hear something.
Imperceptibly, the hum of a voice was discernable. He strained to listen, almost making out words; elusive, but so familiar. Concentrating, they became clearer.
~There is a sharp misgiving in my conscience that if I were to live, I should disappoint your good opinion and my own--and that I ought to die.~
Dickens.
He knew the passage; it was from 'Our Mutual Friend'. The book was one of his favourites and he found himself reciting the words along with the voice.
This is silly. I'm going mad. I must be.
The voice faded and for a while there was silence again.
It returned stronger the next time; a female's voice, but not one he recognised. It was singing.
~ Ah, leave me not to pine, alone and desolate;~
Pirates of Penzance? Now I know I'm bonkers. Oh well, if I'm going to spend an eternity here I might as well be insane. It will stop me getting bored.

Mad or not, Marcus found himself enjoying the visits of the voice, wondering which G&S aria he would hear next. The voice, a soprano by the tone, had regaled him with the well known tunes from the popular operettas and had begun on the songs from other Broadway shows.
Interspersed with the singing, she still read from books. Marcus had begun to think of the voice as a person. He pictured her sitting in a garden, maybe on a swing, children listening at her feet.
When had he begun to imagine children?
It was the other voices that occasionally joined the female. High pitched; a boy and a girl, sometimes arguing by the rhythms of their words. He could not clearly hear what they said; it was only the female that was perceptible. It was strange that his mind should conjure such an idyllic family group.
Except that he had once dreamed of having such a family. Long ago, before his world had been shattered by the Shadows, and his future became as uncertain as the next battle. Not even as he had fallen for Susan had he once let himself hope that they could have a future together. Only in his farewell message to Marie did he finally admit the depth of his love and the passing thought that Susan might love him back.
If he was imagining what might have been, then why did he hear a stranger's voice instead of Susan's?
Loopy. Definitely loopy.

Susan.
It was unquestionably her voice this time and not the female's. Maybe his mind had become bored and had decided to play a joke on him. Why else would Susan be reading 'Sleeping Beauty'?
~But the third fairy had not yet bestowed her gift. "The princess shall not die," she said, "But fall into a deep sleep."~
Entranced, he listened; drinking in every word that her low timbre spoke. There was a rare softness in her voice as she told the tale of the Princess who was woken by a kiss. Always with him Susan had been the Commander, barking orders or ranting in a rage. Never had she spoken with such gentleness to him.
Yes she had. Just once. 'Thank you'. Two words, the only appreciation she had openly shown of his company. Bursting through the numb shock Marcus had felt then on the Whitestar, his heart had soared.
To be cruelly ripped from him only minutes later.
Susan!
The story finished, she had gone again. Would she return, or would the female resume her singing? Even if it was only in his mind, Marcus wished for Susan to lull him in his eternity.
~I love you Marcus. Please come back to me.~
Susan?

Was that his mind playing another trick or did he really hear the woman he love say she loved him too?
His mind wouldn't be that cruel, would it?
Then he felt a breath on his face and a feather light touch on his mouth. The kiss was brief, but the feeling of it remained, tingling like electricity.
'Come back to me' she had said. Susan had called him. She was here!
Marcus opened his eyes.


To be continued...