Spying a head of dark hair, she ducked behind a fruit stall. Realising that it wasn't Marcus, she heaved a sigh of relief and continued on her way.

It wasn't that she disliked Marcus. She had in fact admitted to herself the possibility that they might have some sort of future together. It was just that he was being so annoying about the whole thing. She remembered how he had looked at her after they'd kissed. All pleased with himself. She knew it was petty, but one of the reasons she was resisting Marcus was to deny him the satisfaction of her submission. She knew he wouldn't look at it like that - he just wasn't the type - but it was the principle of the thing. Are you forgetting the way he kissed you - touched you? She dwelled on that particular image for some time.

Caught up in this reverie, she did not see the tall, dark man as he approached her.

"Commander!" a familiar voice called out to her. "Fancy meeting you here. Are you on your lunch break by any chance?"

She cringed as she turned to face him.

"Actually, Marcus, I was just -"

"Did I mention how particularly lovely you look today?" he interrupted, snatching a yellow, orchid-like flower from a nearby stall and handing it to her.

With an exasperated sigh, she returned to the stall and gave the flower back to the owner. She turned around and abruptly collided with Marcus, who had come up directly behind her. He seemed determined to annoy her as much as possible. Stepping back and looking up at his face, she decided to try the direct approach.

"Look Marcus, I don't have time for this. I have to get back to C&C. I'll talk to you later."

With that, she turned and started to walk away, but was brought up short when Marcus reached out and caught her wrist.

"Ah, ah, ah! I'm not letting you get away that easily," he said in her ear.

"What are you going to do Marcus, kidnap me?" she asked, unsuccessfully trying to extricate herself from his strong grasp.

She thought briefly about kneeing him in the groin, but thought it would be too childish.

"No, but I could send you flowers every hour, on the hour, in C&C for the rest of the day," he threatened.

"Ha!" she scoffed, "There isn't a chance in hell of a flower courier getting into C&C on my watch."

"Well," he continued, not skipping a beat, "I could always kiss you right here, in front of all these people." To punctuate the threat, he took a step closer, and placed his free hand (the one not busy restraining her) on her back.

"I could always kick your butt from here to Io," she retorted, still strugling.

"Isn't that Mr Garibaldi I see over there? I'm sure he'd enjoy the show."

"Yeah, I'm sure he'd love to see you get knocked out with your own pike."

"Wouldn't that just make more of a scene?" he reasoned, moving in even closer, his face mere centimetres from her own.

Susan thought about that. She sighed, annoyed. She was trapped, and she hated being outmanoeuvred. Still, there isn't a person on board who you'd rather be in this situation with! She couldn't stand these little self revelations that always seemed to pop up whenever Marcus was around.

Trying to appear disinterested in their current position, avoiding his eyes, and staring over his shoulder instead, she asked in a flat tone, "All right, Marcus, what do you want?"

"All I would ask of you, my Lady, is the pleasure of your company for lunch," he said with a dramatic flourish, releasing her from his grasp and stepping back.

Hell, a girl had to eat.

"That, of course, and a kiss," he continued.

Giving him a look that said "don't push your luck" she conceded with less than flawless grace.

"Okay, Marcus, let's get this over with, I don't have all day."

"As my Lady wishes," he replied with a slight bow.

"And stop calling me that!" she snapped.

"Of course, Oh Commander, My Commander," he said with a grin, holding his arm out to her.

She rolled her eyes, ignored the proffered arm, turned, and walked off without bothering to see if Marcus was following or not.

"Isn't love grand!" Marcus commented to a passing Drazi, before hurrying to catch up to the retreating Commander.

*

After realising they didn't want to sit and eat (Susan refusing to because it would look too much like a date) they settled on stopping at a fast food vendor, and eating whilst they wandered around the Zocalo. Marcus talked entertainingly about the usual round of strange things that always managed to happen to him in the course of a morning, while his mind was concentrating on far more important things.

He was becoming more and more frustrated about Susan's obvious attempts to avoid him. He didn't want to push her into anything, but right now he simply had no idea what was going on inside her head, or her heart for that matter. He wished she would just come to a decision, once and for all. But then, he'd thought she'd reached a conclusion when they were stuck on the derelict ship together. He wished he could recreate those circumstances, recapture those intimate moments, but knew that he could not.

*

Susan laughed as Marcus finished an amusing anecdote. See, he does make you laugh. So what if he did? Okay, she wasn't hating being with Marcus like this, but that didn't mean she wanted to do it on a regular basis. Are you sure about that? It had been such a long time since she'd had a nice, normal relationship with someone. So why was she fighting this? She knew the answer to that question was hidden away in the dark recesses of her mind. She was so wary about a relationship with Marcus because she really did care about him, and all the people she'd cared about in the past had either died or deserted her. Her mother, her brother, Talia, Jeff... she really had no one left, except maybe John and Michael, but even they couldn't be classed as more than just close friends. She was resisting Marcus because she was afraid of getting close to someone again. She just didn't want to put herself throught the pain of it all. She was sick of pain.

All of his self-revelation wasn't helping her with the situation at hand, which was that she was with Marcus, and enjoying herself.

*

Sensing her distracted frame of mind, Marcus had fallen silent. His eyes were on her face, watching the emotions play across it. They had by now made a complete circuit of the market area.

"Why don't we wander over to the gardens for a bit?" he suggested, breaking Susan's train of thought.

"Sure, okay," she replied distractedly, and unconsciously hooked both arms around Marcus' elbow as they changed dirction.

Even that small action made Marcus' heart skip a beat. Maybe there's hope for us yet, he thought, not for the first time.

They reached the gardens, and Susan still hadn't broken her reverie, a slight frown crinkling her features.

"Susan, if the wind changes, your face might freeze that way," Marcus commented.

Her expression changed to one of amusement as she replied, "There isn't any wind on a space station, Marcus."

"Well then, frown away as much as you please, you are in no danger of having your features permanently marred."

"I wasn't frowning, I was thinking."

"Oh, that's different with you then, I suppose?" he ventured.

She shot him a dirty look begore replying, "It is in my book, and your's too, if you know what's good for you."

The garden was relatively crowded, being lunch time, but the two of them were too carght up in ther good-natured banter to notice. The rapid exchange of comments and retorts continued until Marcus froze mid-sentence, a look of horror and alarm spreading over his face.

Susan followed his line of sight, and saw a man with thick dark hair approaching them along the path. As he came nearer, Marcus' expression changed to one of relief mixed with a touch of dismay. Obviously he'd thought the man to be someone else, someone who caused him great distess to think of.

"Marcus, what just happened?" Susan asked with concern in her voice.

Marcus tuned away as the man passed them without a second glance. His eyes were still filled with pain as he lowered himself shakily onto a nearby park bench. Susan sat next to him, and watched him worriedly.

Finally, he managed a reply. "It - Its alright, Susan, I just thought for a second that I recognised that man, but, I was mistaken."

"Well, I figured that much out myself. What I want to know is, why are you so shaken up by it?"

He seemed to pause, as if deciding whether or not to answer.

"Its - Its not important. It doesn't matter," he said, glancing away.

"Are you sure? Because if you want to talk about it-"

He cut her off, "No, no, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

He made as if to get up, but she stopped him with a hand against his chest. She was slightly annoyed.

"Hey, how come you always get to worry about me, and I can't do the same for you? A relationship's a two way steet, Marcus, give-and-take, the whole nine yards. You can't be all caring and nurturing, and then not expect anything back." She placed one hand over his. "You can trust me, you know."

He visibly relented. Still not looking at her properly, he began to explain.

"It's no big deal, really. It just - You remember I told you about my brother, and how I ended up as a ranger?" She nodded. "Anyway, that man that walked past. He looked so much like Lucas, that from a distance I thought it was him. I know he's dead - I saw him die before my eyes. But I guess the mind never really adjusts, does it?"

He looked up at her then, trying to smile, but Susan could see the unshed tears in his eyes. She reached out and placed her hand against his neck, then pulled him into her arms.

They held each other for a long time. After what seemed like an age, they pulled apart, and this time Marcus was really smiling. Neither of them said a word, their arms still around each other. Marcus cupped her cheek in one hand, and it seemed the most natural thing in the world when they leant towards one another again and kissed. Their lips at first barely touching, the kiss soon grew in intensity, and they clutched each other tightly. They continued, not caring who saw them, until they were interrupted by the bleep of Ivanova's link.

She paused a moment to catch her breath before answering. "What?" she demanded, unable, and unwilling to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

Marcus smiled, amused at her tone. She was obviously flustered from their embrace.

"Commander." It was Lt. Corwin. "Sir, I was wondering if you were ever coming back to work."

She glanced at the time. She cursed inwardly. She'd been due back in C&C twenty minutes ago.

Sighing resignedly she said, "Alright, Leiutenant, I'll be there in a few minutes. Cover for me till I get back. Ivanova out."

Still unnerved about what had just happened, she didn't meet his gaze.

"I - I've got to go," she stammered, playing with her cuff.

"That's alright, I'm a happy man."

She looked at him, puzzled.

"Well, I got my lunch, and I got my kiss, as well!"

"Didn't you expect to?" she asked with a smile.

"To be perfectly honest, no. But then, I have been the one doing all the work in this relationship. I guess it was your turn. Give and take, the whole nine yards," he mimicked.

Her smile widened.

"I really have to go," she said, and reluctantly stood up from the bench.

She held out her hands and pulled him up to stand beside her. Still holding hands, he kissed her, their lips lingering against each other, neither one wanting to pull away. Finally Susan ended the kiss. As much as she wanted to stay, she had to get to work before they sent out a search party.

She smiled at him, then turned and left without saying a word. He stayed there and watched her retreating back for quite some time.

*

They didn't see each other again till the following afternoon. Captain Sheridan had called a meeting about some relatively unimportant matter in his office. Not that everything doesn't seem fairly tame after the Shadow War, Susan mused to herself while waiting for the others to assemble. Looking around, she saw the Captain leaning against his desk, talking quietly with Delenn. I bet they're talking about the wedding, she thought wryly. Franklin and Garibaldi entered together, talking about... She halted mid-thought as the door slid open, and Marcus strode into the room. His eyes immediatley picked her out, and they smiled at each other briefly.

"Right, why don't you all grab a seat somewhere, and we'll get started. First of all, we need to discuss..." the Captain hurled himself into the meeting with an enthusiasm hardly matched by the rest of the group. Two people in particular.

The meeting dragged on, with Susan and Marcus concentrating more on not looking at each other than on any of the actual topics at hand. When Marcus gave his report about the resistance efforts on Mars, Susan struggled to remain composed and not embarrass herself by blushing bright red in front of everybody. Marcus was more successful in pretending to pay attention than Susan was. He had, afterall, had alot of prior experience to that effect. Still, the both of them managed to appear very uncomfortable to the others in the room, who watched the display with interest and amusement.

Though they had been discreet for the most part, Sheridan and Delenn could not help sharing with Garibaldi and Franklin the circumstances under which they had discovered Marcus and Susan when they'd gone out to pick them up in the White Star, especially when they had turned up to lunch with the two men shortly after returning, still half paralysed with laughter.

Remembering the look on Susan's face when he surprised them, Sheridan had to stifle a laugh before continuing with the meeting.

This is torture, Susan thought, as she sat in the Captain's office. Looking over at Marcus, she could tell he was feeling the same way. Seeing him sitting there out of the corner of her eye, her arms ached to hold him again. She realised that, while still wary of being hurt again, she couldn't just forget about Marcus. Besides, she suspected a relationship with Marcus would be worth the risk. He's as irritating as hell, she thought ruefully, But I think I love him.

As if hearing her thoughts, Marcus glanced over at her. A look passed between them, and for a moment, each knew exactly what the other was thinking. Unfortunately, what the two shared in that moment was painfully obvious to everyone else in the room as well. Silence descended, as Marcus and Susan continued to stare at each other.

"Well, I think we'll finish on that note," Sheridan broke the silence and the spell.

Looking up startled, Susan realised she hadn't the faintest idea what topics or issues had been discussed during the hour or so they'd been there.

Sheridan continued speaking. "Delenn, you up for coffee? Michael, Steven, care to join us?"

After a round of affirmatives, he turned to Susan and Marcus.

"How about you two?" he asked them.

"Oh, I'll pass thanks. I've got something I need to take care of," Marcus replied with an overdone air of casualness.

"Count me out too, but thanks for asking," his second in command didn't even bother trying to come up with an excuse.

The other four exchanged knowing glances and preceeded them from the room. They followed at a slower pace, waiting till the other's had rounded the corner towards the 'lift before stopping and facing each other. They looked at each other, until Marcus spoke.

"Susan, I - oof!"

He was cut off as she slammed him against the wall of the corridor, her body pressed against his.

"Marcus, if I were you, I wouldn't be saying anything right now.," she breathed, before kissing him hungrily.

Umm... said Marcus' brain in reply, too preoccupied to think of something to say. He wrapped his arms around her, and they stayed locked together in that fashion for quite some time. They were so caught up with each other that they didn't even notice when the Captain reappeared around the corner, on his way to retrieve some forgotten reports he'd promised Garibaldi.

He stopped in his tracks, not sure what to do. In the end he simply crept past the couple on tiptoes. Though the way those two are going at it I could tap dance past them and they wouldn't even bat an eyelid, he thought. After finding the reports and tiptoeing once again past the couple, his dark streak made an appearance.

Rounding the corner again, he called loudly, "Hey Michael, I owe you twenty credits! You were right, they didn't even wait five minutes before going at it like teenagers!"

Susan and Marcus broke apart abruptly at the sound of his voice and slowly turned their heads in his direction. The Captain grinned at them briefly before continuing around the corner, chuckling to himself. Just as slowly, they moved their heads round to face each other once again. One was a perfect mirror of the other - both wide-eyed and incredulous, with jaws dropped open. After staring at each other for a while, there was nothing else for it. Collapsing against each other, they began to laugh. Clutching at each other tightly, they laughed for a long time before they finally regained control. When they did, they pulled apart slightly so as to look at each other.

Susan spoke first, a hint of laughter still present in her voice. "Marcus, you're such a jerk. Remind me never to kiss you again. Everytime we do it's nothing but trouble."

"Well, I guess all we can do is keep trying until we get it right," came the reply as he pushed himself off the wall behind him, and turned around so that their positions were reversed. Lowering his head, their mouths met in a long, deep, passionate kiss. Whe they finally came up for air, he brought his hand up to rest against the side of his face.

"I love you," he whispered, and kissed her lips lightly before moving to the hollow of her throat.

Tilting her head back and drawing deeply from her courage reserves, she said, "I love you too."

He drew back and smiled at her. "I know," he replied.

Pushing him off her, and stepping out of his embrace, she punched him in the arm.

"You know, you don't have to act so casual about it. You could at least pretend to be surprised, or ecstatic, or anything other than smug and contented."

"A thousand apologies, my Lady, I'll try to do better next time. It's only that I've been in love with you for so long that I've come to take it as a matter of course that you love me back."

"Well, I just wouldn't, if I were you. The way you behave most of the time, I could just as easily fall out of love as I fell into it."

They started off down the corridor in the general direction of the transport tube; stopping every now and then to exchange a particularly firm retort.

*

It was a few minutes later, when Captain Sheridan, Garibaldi, Franklin and Delenn were seated round a table at the Eclipse Cafe, that they saw the couple wandering past. The two of them were lost in their own world as they argued away about some unimportant matter. Susan punctuated a particularly vehement statement with a shove aimed at Marcus' chest. He stopped, stunned, as Ivanova stalked off. Recovering quickly, he ran after her, swept her up in a quick, hard kiss, then released her just as abruptly. It was now Susan's turn to be stunned, before she caught up with him and continued the argument.

The group in the cafe witnessed all this with a certain pleasure mixed with consternation. When the two had passed out of sight, they turned to each other. Fanklin voiced the concern that was playing over each one's mind in one form or another.

"Can you imagine what it will be like when they have a real argument? And worse still, who's going o have to pick up the pieces?"

"Let's not even think about that," Sheridan replied, "Besides, it might never happen."

Garibaldi choked on a mouthful of coffee. "Are you kidding? Are we talking about the same two people here? Please, we'll be scraping up blood and guts within a month."

"I disagree, my friend, care to make it interesting?" Sheridan leapt at the chance to place a wager.

"Sure. Ten credits say they've had their first major brawl within a month."

"You're on," Sheridan agreed, and the two shook on it.

"Hey, count me in, I give them two weeks," Steven joined in the runnings.

Delenn, who had been quiet till now, asked a question. "Tell, me, why is it that you take such pleasure in foretelling the outcome of the relationship between two of your friends?"

"Well, its kinda like a tradition..." Sheridan began.

"Sure, I made a bundle off Ivanova when you two were getting together," Garibaldi volunteered with a smile.

Delenn's eyes widened at that last comment, and she appeared to be mulling the idea over.

"In that case," she said at last, "How long do you think it will be before he asks her to marry him?"

The three men sat back in their chairs as they considered the notion. They exchanged glances. It looked like things were going to get interesting.

the end

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