From: creative-archive@anxst.com
Subject: STORY SUBMISSION:  A Kind Word and a Two-by-Four
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 17:35:39 -0700 (PDT)


A Kind Word and a Two-by-Four
by Cynthia Gonsalves (cynthia1960@home.com)

Big thanks to Jonnie Barragan, Berni Phillips, Soren Fanning, and Brenda
Carlson...their beta comments were invaluable.

Also thanks to Peter Gabriel, whose song "Kiss That Frog" is the musical
inspiration and accompaniment for this story.

Everything about Babylon 5 belongs to JMS, the Great Maker, Babylonian
Productions, PTEN, and the suits at WB.  I'm just borrowing the
characters for a while, and promise to give them back relatively
unscathed!  Well, I *might* like to hang on to Marcus just a while
longer, ok? (But I'd have to fight off most of the I&M list with a pike,
I suppose....)

Obligatory warnings for adult language and situations, although I've
read a lot of romance novels that are worse.  Also, this story can be
considered one big Season 4 spoiler through "Lines of Communication" so
caveat lector. [AC] [AL] [SS]

This story begins in 2261 during Marcus and Stephen's return trip to
Babylon 5 after their trip to Mars....


========================================================================

   Like all the other nights on this trip, Marcus Cole found himself
roaming through a cargo hold at an ungodly hour of the morning.  [Damn,
another cargo hold full of boxes and here I am alone awake at two in the
morning for the nth time already on this trip!  And Stephen doesn't even
"care" to find out why *I* can't sleep.  Randy bastard still has to get
over Number One, I guess!]

   Stephen, his erstwhile spouse, lay in "their" bed, comfortably
sleeping the repose of the just plain exhausted.

   "Bugger!", Marcus muttered under his breath while his pike expanded
with a *whoosh-thwock* sound.

   Marcus began absent-mindedly practicing his training katas in the
air, while continuing his conversation with no one in particular.
"Isn't it just lovely!  The Captain says "Go to Mars with Stephen" and
when we get there, we get "By the way, you're newlyweds", so we have to
talk to the Resistance while playing kissy-face.  We can't even do a
good job of *that* because Stephen has to fall in lust with the leader
of the Resistance!  The bastard isn't just cheap, he's lucky too!"

   The pike paused in mid-air.  Marcus imagined Number One, then a chill
went up his spine.  [Brrrr, maybe he's not so lucky...She's *gorgeous*
but a bit too much of a Valkyrie for my taste.  I've always rather
fancied a heroine from Tolstoy rather than from the Norse sagas anyhow.
All that mead would make me ill... and *what* about the bit about
scooping out brains to use as cat food?   At least Susan only wants to
rip out lungs when *she's* mad, and besides, Stephen can put the lungs
back in, right?]

   The pike made another elegant circuit in the air, then Marcus laid it
down on the decksole.  "Susan, it all comes back to Susan, doesn't it?"
he sighed.  The mental kick in the butt continued.  [Bloody idiot!  Of
*course* it all comes back to Susan!  She's only managed to worm her way
into my mind each and every day since I came to Babylon 5...Lyta doesn't
have to work at all to catch what I'm thinking, and as for the rest of
them, I might as well hang a sign over my head saying "Hopelessly
Besotted by Susan Ivanova" and parade through the Zocalo!  I guess
Corwin and I could discuss this over drinks at Earhart's, the lad goes
off and buys flowers for her and she has *no* clue because he's too
scared to tell her they're from him!  Can't say I blame him,
though...I'm in the same boat.  'Well, if you're going to have
delusions, might as well go for the really *satisfying* ones...' Right.]

   He picked up the pike and twirled it slowly, then angrily muttered,
"Marcus, you are one *stupid* bastard."  He drew his mind back to each
time he had tried to let Susan know how he felt.  The Babylon 5 as
Ottoman Empire diagram with Susan at the center of everything, all those
not-so-subtle allusions to four-poster beds and gardens, and all he got
was a look like he was a frog that she didn't want sharing her
particular lily pad.  The biggest disaster was his attempt at teaching
her Minbari sweet nothings.  He had told her they meant 'My words are
inadequate for  the burden of my heart' when the translation really
meant 'you're the most beautiful woman I have ever met.'  [I *know* she
can't speak Minbari worth a damn!  Remember 'brickbat lingerie'?
Couldn't hardly keep a straight face!]  A snort broke the silence.  [How
the bloody hell is she going to know what I *really* mean if I keep
saying it in Minbari.  Don't know any Russian, better stick to English!]

   Marcus retracted the pike and stuck it back in his pocket, then
started walking back to his quarters with a slight grin on his face.
[Yeah, English...Dad always told me you can get more with a kind word
and a two-by-four than you can with just a kind word.  Just have to make
sure that the kind word is in English and that I always have a
two-by-four handy!]

========================================================================

   The next morning, Marcus and Stephen sat in their quarters,
eatingbreakfast like the newlyweds they were pretending to be.  Stephen
looked up from his eggs, hash browns, and coffee substitute and asked,
"Marcus, what the *hell* has been eating you lately?"

   "Eating *me*?" Marcus replied.

   Stephen shot back, "Yeah, *you*.  This entire trip, you've been
driving me *nuts* but now it's gone too far.  The trip out, you started
singing Gilbert and Sullivan and wouldn't stop until I screamed.  On
Mars, instead of acting like a newlywed, you started nagging like
someone who's been married twenty-five years!  God, I'd rather have
Number One scoop my brains out!"

   "You mean, 'Oh, Stephen!'?" Marcus replied in a breathless tone of
voice and an unmistakably smartass look on his face.

   Stephen snapped back with the same expression and intonation, "Why,
darling, you're jealous!"  More angrily he said, "And just *who* was it
who told me to touch passion when it came my way and called my name,
hmmm?  Look in the mirror, Marcus!"

   Marcus sobered, but Stephen kept going.  "Now, we're heading home to
the station, mission accomplished, and you spend all your time muttering
under your breath and playing games with that *damn* pike.  Almost makes
me wish you'd start singing again!"

   A light flickered in Marcus's eyes and he began to hum the melody of
"Modern Major General."

   Stephen gave Marcus a dirty look which promised lots of gunfire in
his future, then his eyes narrowed as he considered the situation.  [Why
is he so touchy about Number One?  Is it just a handy excuse?]  Stephen
started mentally reviewing the women Marcus dealt with regularly.  [I
know which woman he's obsessing over.  Can't say I blame him.  Delenn's
been mooning over John, and he doesn't seem to be the type to chase
after telepaths.]

   Stephen said, "It's Susan, isn't it?" confidently.

   Marcus flinched. "And what if it is?", he bit off.

   Stephen smiled like a cat that found the cream.  [*Gotcha!*]  "Well
then, oh great advice guru, are you too *pure* to practice what you
preach?", he challenged.  "Big tough Ranger, hah?  Can't get you to shut
up 90 percent of the time, but the time you really *need* to say
something, you clam up.  You won't know if she's interested if you don't
ever come right out and tell her.  I've known Susan for four years now,
and subtle hints will get you absolutely nowhere!  You're *afraid* of
her, aren't you?"

   "I'd rather get the shit beaten out of me by Neroon *and* the entire
warrior caste than tell Susan straight out that I love her!" Marcus
replied.

   Stephen told Marcus, "Now *that* is the most rational thing you've
said all morning!  Fear is a really useful survival mechanism around
Susan, but she *thrives* on it.  You know, I *like* her, but she still
scares the hell out of me too."  They both considered the effect of the
infamous Ivanova temper in silence.  Stephen then gave Marcus a
knowledgeable smile, and said, "Listen idiot, if Susan didn't want you
around, she'd have let you know by now!  She's utterly amazed me with
how much of your romantic bullshit she's tolerated!  I would have
thought you'd have gone out an airlock naked by now!"

   The light began to grow in Marcus's eyes.  Stephen, sensing a
victory, pressed on.  "Do me and the rest of the station a favor, okay
Marcus?  After we debrief Sheridan and the rest of the command staff,
get Susan alone and *tell* her.  You could even take my name in vain and
say that I've noticed some problems with the health of part of the
staff.  She's second in command, she has to pay attention to that."

   Marcus perked up, and Stephen finished, "Yeah, you've been a raving
lunatic for at least a year and you've been practically bumping into the
station walls!  You've become a clear and present danger to yourself and
others bumbling about with that pike!  I prescribe the truth, taken
orally, as soon as you have some free time on the station!  And don't
stop the prescription until you get an answer!"

   "Yes, Doctor...", Marcus replied sheepishly.

=======================================================================

   The debriefing went well, but Marcus was noticeably diffident and let
Stephen do most of the talking.  Sheridan and Delenn looked at him a
little puzzled, but didn't spend a lot of mental energy on finding out
exactly why.  Zack was preoccupied with finding out exactly *what* was
up with Garibaldi, and Franklin went back to considering what to do with
all the Shadow-touched telepaths he had in Medlab cold storage.  Having
a silent Marcus instead of an all-too-loquacious Marcus on her hands
caught Ivanova's attention.  This was a mystery that begged to be solved
so that she could go back to being confident that she knew absolutely
*everything* that went on in Babylon 5, which was the right and proper
order to her universe.

   A week after the debriefing, Marcus walked into Susan's office early
one morning.  Her desk was piled with varying stacks of paper covering
all the myriad details of running a space station and a revolution
simultaneously, and Susan looked up with a somewhat harried expression
on her face.  [Oh great, what does he want now?]  "What's up Marcus?
I've got at least fifteen things that have to be done right now...",
Susan said while she shuffled a couple of piles back and forth.

   Marcus quietly said, "Susan, I need to talk to you."  Susan noticed
the preoccupied expression which had become his usual public face to the
world since he got back from Mars and her usually suspicious nature
turned up a notch or two.  [Something is up all right.  He's been way
too quiet ever since he got back from Mars.  I haven't heard any silly
time-wasting chatter about nothing much at all, which is just not like
his usual operating procedure.  Yeah, something is *definitely* up...]

   "Yeah, we can talk.  Lemme check my schedule..."  Susan's fingers
punched the display keyboard.  "I've got some time free at 1630, how
about that?"

   "Right.  Marvelous. 1630 it is.  Meet me in the park.  Bye.", Marcus
replied and quickly retreated from her office.

   Susan entered '1630-Marcus-Park' on her appointment calendar and made
a note that she didn't want to be commed during that time, then went
back to the fifteen must-do-now items with a shake of her head.  [That
has got to be the shortest and strangest conversation we've *ever*
had...  I have *got* to find out what is going on with him.  I think I'd
better go to Medlab and pry out *exactly* what went on during the trip
to Mars from Stephen!]

========================================================================

   Right before lunch, Ivanova stormed into Medlab.  The Commander's
face was a study in barely restrained fury as she searched for
Franklin.  The rest of the Medlab staff quickly cleared an approach path
to avoid getting hit by the aftermath of the inevitable collision.  A
couple of more prudent souls managed to fit in a quick check for
adequate trauma supplies as they beat a hasty retreat.  Her prey
spotted, Susan cornered Stephen.  "What the *hell* went on with you two
on Mars?" she hissed in his ear.  "Marcus has been weirder than usual
lately, and that takes *some* doing!"

   "I haven't noticed any change, he's still an insufferable pain in the
ass.  Nothing's new."  Stephen shook his head.

   "Don't bullshit me Stephen.  You know *that's* dangerous!  I usually
can't get the man to shut up, but now I have to pull things out with a
crowbar!  Did he crack his head against a brick wall or something?"

   "There is nothing physically wrong with him, Susan.  You'd better ask
him yourself if you want to know what happened."

   [Great, he's certifiably mental.  I don't feel like playing therapist
right now, thank you *very* much...]  "Thanks for nothing, Stephen!",
Susan sarcastically said as she turned her back on him and left Medlab.


========================================================================

Later that day, 1630, in the park...

   Susan walked briskly into the park to find Marcus sitting on a bench
looking quietly at the scenery.  She asked "Is something eating you,
Marcus?"

   "You sound *just* like Stephen, have you been taking Franklin lessons
Susan?" Marcus asked.

   "And *what* does Stephen have to do with this, may I ask?" Susan
replied in an exasperated tone.  [I can damn well ask and you'd better
damn well answer!]

   Marcus cryptically replied, "Let's just say, I'm following doctor's
orders, ok?"  [Marcus, old boy, you'll be damned if you do and damned if
you don't, so just do it and get it over with, ok?]

   Susan's nose wrinkled quizzically as she asked "Doctor's orders?"
[Is he sick or something?]

   "Yes, doctor's orders.  Stephen prescribed the truth, taken orally,
and I can't stop the prescription until it's all gone..." Marcus said.

   Susan rolled her eyes.  [Oh *great* he's back to his old self...]
After a brief pause, she looked more closely into Marcus's eyes.  [I've
seen that expression lots of times.  Looks like he's going off to fight
a battle he doesn't think he's going to win...]  "What kind of truth?
Sounds like a *lot* more happened on the trip to Mars than you and
Stephen have bothered to tell me so far.  I even went to Medlab before
lunch to interrogate Stephen and all I got was, 'Ask him yourself.'  Ok,
*fine*, consider yourself asked.  Do me *one* favor though, *try* to
keep the tale shorter than War and Peace.  I do have a revolution to get
back to, you know."

   "Susan, do you know what our cover story was while we were on Mars?"

   "No, what?"

   "Stephen and I were posing as honeymooners."  The look on Marcus's
face was priceless.

   A wicked yet gleeful expression flitted over Susan's face.  [Now
Stephen knows what I've had to deal with ever since Marcus the Madman
showed up on the station!  Serves him right!]  "So?  Have a nice time?"

   "No, we're not each other's type.  The bastard even left me for a
woman in the Resistance.  She reminds me a lot of you.  Sure you don't
have any relatives on Mars?"

   Susan snorted, and growled, "Marcus, would you *please* get to the
point?"

   "Stephen's defection left me with a lot of time I used for thinking.
I figured out that I don't have a whole lot of time to waste any more,
so after I gave Stephen permission to chase his commando, I gave myself
marching orders to tell the lady of my dreams the truth.  Stephen just
provided a well chosen kick in the butt to get me to the put up or shut
up point."

   "Marcus, if you *needed* a kick in the butt, all you had to do is ask
*me*.  I am, after all, the station expert..."

   "Yes, I know, that's part of the problem, isn't it?"  Marcus took a
deep breath and squared his shoulders, then softly said a phrase in
Minbari, and asked Susan, "Do you remember what that means?"

   "'My words are inadequate for the burden of my heart', right?"

   [You haven't improved your Minbari at all, have you love?]  "You're
partially right Susan...the words *are* inadequate, but your translation
is all wrong and you're working in the wrong language.  Try English..."

   "English?"

   Marcus drew Susan down next to him on the bench and gently took her
hands.  "Susan, that phrase when translated really says, 'you are the
most beautiful woman I have ever met', and I've been waiting all my life
to say it to the woman I love."  [In Valen's name, I did it...]

   Susan looked directly at him and searched his eyes again.  Marcus
watched comprehension slowly dawn in her own eyes as all the puzzle
pieces clicked into place and waited for the fallout.  [Oh well, there
went the kind word...don't see a two-by-four hidden anywhere nearby, but
I do have my pike...]  "Susan...I just have one question more for you.
*Is* there hope for us?  When you're ready to give me your answer, let
me know.  I just wanted to get this off my chest before we go back into
the battle for Earth so that I can go on with a clear heart."

   After a uncomfortable pause, Marcus got up and left the park leaving
Susan on the bench alone.
========================================================================

   Susan spent the next two nights restlessly dealing with memories and
ghosts.  Faces moved through her dreams, faces of too many people she'd
loved and lost. [Mother....Ganya....Father...
Talia...]  They brought up all the pain she had worked so hard to bury,
as she writhed in her bed.  Marcus's face came to the forefront.  [Oh
God, not *again*, you *know* I'm no good at relationships.]

   Another piece of her mind spoke up.  [He's in love with you, he
finally got the courage to tell you, and you *didn't* blast him out the
nearest airlock for daring to do so?  Not exactly standard Ivanova
operating procedure is it, douschka?  You pride yourself on going it
alone, you're even secretly glad Talia turned out to be a Psi Corp
plant, because deep down inside, you don't think you *deserve* to be
loved!]

   "Nooo,"  Susan quietly said aloud, and turned over restlessly.
Suddenly, the figure of Lorien showed up.  [You'd think he had better
things to do, bringing the Captain back to life and getting the First
Ones to go beyond the Rim, but noooo, he has to play therapist for
*me*?]

   Their last conversation before Lorien left with the Shadows and
Vorlons replayed in her mind.  [My heart and I don't speak any more.]

   [Only those, whose lives are brief, can imagine that love is
eternal.  You should embrace that remarkable illusion.  It may be the
greatest gift your race has ever received.]

   [Was he *right*?]

   The other piece of her mind pointed out, [Life is short, and it may
be a lot shorter soon when we move against Earth.  We've all been really
lucky so far...we made it through the Shadow war...but the future is
still uncertain.  We won't be fighting Minbari or Shadows, it's Earth
Force on the other side this time.]

   [Are you sure you want to keep being alone with your pain?  Did
Lorien waste his little remaining time on you?  Give Marcus an answer,
he's been honest with you, he deserves it...]

   Late in the second sleepless morning, but still before her wakeup
call, Susan sat up in bed.  [I've got the answer...]

========================================================================

   The following morning, Marcus opened up his door to find a small
rectangular package at his doorstep.  He unwrapped it to find a chunk of
2x4 with the word "yes" written on it, and a small note in Susan's
handwriting asking him to meet her in her quarters at 2000 that evening.

   His heart went thud, and then his soul leapt in joy.  [So that's
where the kind word and the two-by-four were, old boy...]

========================================================================

   At 2000 sharp that evening, Marcus showed up at Susan's door wearing
his best cloak, anchored with his Ranger pin, and the least disreputable
trousers and shirt he could find.  He had spent most of the day alone
thinking in the park, because he didn't want to let any of the others
see him before he had a chance to see Susan, and he knew what they would
say.  As he rang the bell, he felt like he was fifteen again.  [You'd
better calm down Marcus, my lad, you don't want Susan to *really* think
you have fifteen wild badgers living in your trousers, do you?]

   The door chimed and opened.  Marcus entered to find her sitting room
softly lit, but Susan not there.  He warily sat down on the couch.  Then
a soft noise came from the bedroom.  He looked up and saw Susan in a
long burgundy satin dress with thin straps and a soft long-sleeved
jacket over it all, standing by the door to her bedroom.  [Am I dead?
If I am, this has got to be heaven...]  "Hullo, Susan," Marcus managed
to get out of a suddenly choked throat.

   [Not bad, Cole.  Your reaction is better than the Captain's, the last
time I had a man in my quarters...]  Susan walked into the sitting room
and joined Marcus on the couch.  "I thought we'd stay here this
evening.  I have you to thank for a couple of sleepless nights, so I
decided that hitting the Zocalo wasn't in the cards for tonight."

   Marcus's retreat mechanism kicked into gear as he attempted to get
up.  "If you're tired, I can come again another day..."

   "God, Marcus, you really can be irritating at times!  I wouldn't have
invited you if I didn't *want* you to stick around, you idiot!  Sit
down, would you?"

   Marcus returned to the couch as Susan got up and stood by the coffee
table facing him.

   "That was one hell of a bombshell you dropped on me in the park.  I'm
so used to frogs in prince's clothing, my romantic track record has been
pretty disastrous, and with all the preparations for the attack on
Earth, I wasn't expecting a knight in shining armor to ride up and sweep
me off my feet.  I always end up cleaning up after the horse..."

   "At least you *have* a track record, Susan.  Galahad was never one of
my favorite Knights of the Round Table, you know...Clueless git!  I
*hate* being compared to him!"

   Susan rolled her eyes and said, "You never stop, do you, Marcus?"

 "  No.  How else is this particular frog prince going to get a kiss
from his chosen princess?"  Marcus gave Susan a particularly suggestive
glance.

   "Marcus Cole, you are probably the most infuriating man I've ever
met!  Part of me wants to throw you out an airlock so I can get some
peace and quiet, part of me wants to keep you around because you're
almost the only one who can get me to laugh through all this, and part
of me just wants to..."

   He got up, walked up to her, and held her in his arms for a few
moments, then pulled back to see the fire in her eyes.  He said that
phrase again in Minbari, and this time Susan understood the translation
completely and gave him a brilliant smile.

   "That gown...there are no words...no, there are words..it is *almost*
a shame to take it off..."  Marcus slowly slipped off the jacket, and
brought Susan close to his heart.  They stood there almost motionless,
only the tiniest of motions sufficed to show the deepest of emotions.
[She's actually here in my arms and she *chose* to be here...I have to
make this last so I can remember this evening for the rest of my
life...]

   [I've never had anyone do this, be so deliberate. I've always rushed
right into the flames, and I've gotten burned every time...]

   Marcus slowly turned Susan around to appreciate all the finer details
of the dress, the neckline, the flow and color of satin, the row of five
small buttons at the small of her back.  His long fingers traveled
softly down her spine as he headed for the row of buttons, and as he
started to unbutton them, he dropped a soft kiss in the hollow of her
back.  [My God, there isn't anything else under there *but* Susan...] He
left the dress unbuttoned in the back, then slowly brought his hands
back up past her shoulders and twined his fingers in her hair while he
brought her face slowly up to his for their first kiss.  As their lips
and tongues slowly danced, Susan's hands also moved up and down his
sides.  [She's the softest thing I've ever held, but oh, there's steel
too...]

   Susan slowly unclasped his cloak to get one layer closer to the core
of her lover.  Their kiss broke, and a question was soundlessly asked,
and answered.  [Your bed?]  [Yes, damn it!]  Marcus swept her up in his
arms, gently laid her on her bed, then slowly removed his shirt before
he lay next to her.  He raised himself up on one elbow and looked down
at her, with all that wonderful hair spread over the pillows, and his
heart went thump again.  [The two-by-four]

   His hand went back to the spaghetti straps of her dress, slowly
exploring each contour and he looked deeply into her soul.  Susan's eyes
silently said yes.  [Oh, Valen....the kind word...I'm undone...]
"Susan, this is beyond my wildest dreams to have you here like this...",
Marcus said in a ragged moan.

   "To hell with wild dreams!  I want *reality*!  This is *not* the time
to stop and talk, you idiot...", Susan softly growled as she slowly
lifted her shoulders to help Marcus ease the straps to just above her
elbows.  Marcus bent down to kiss each nipple before he rested his face
in the hollow of her shoulder.  His beard was soft, but alive and left a
small shock on her skin everywhere he moved.  Soon he moved down her
body, slowly nuzzling each breast, then his hands moved to uncover her
until her arms and stomach were free.  He spent a long time just
exploring the contours and dropped a couple of tiny kisses in her navel
before he looked up for the final permission.  [Bozhe moi, yes!]

   Marcus then moved to the foot of the bed, and slowly drew the dress
past her hips, down the legs, and finally off her entirely.  He bent
down and kissed each leg on the inside of the thigh just above the knee,
and Susan slowly opened her legs to allow him the upward movement.
After slowly moving up, his fingers slowly found her core and then his
lips followed to drive any rational thought away.  After a little while,
Susan gently moved her fingers under his chin and raised his head up.

   [Two can play *this* game.  It's *my* turn now!]  He nodded and lay
at her side, while Susan managed to repeat the magic with her fingers
and lips, making sure that she spent just as much time exploring his
secrets as he had hers.  Her habit of command pushed her to drive him
over the edge as a payback, then she curled up on her side facing him
and joined him in a fitful rest.

   A couple of hours passed, and then Susan was roused by the movement
of his fingers on her back as he slowly brought her closer against him
and fully awakened by some wonderful nibbles at the crook of her neck.
She joined him in their slow play for a while, but then the tension in
the room rose as Marcus made it very clear he was ready for more.  "You
are absolutely amazing, but this time I want us to go mad together.
Allow me, your Highness..." He rose back above her, and claimed her lips
in a slow reverent kiss as their bodies joined.

========================================================================

There, I did it, hope you enjoy reading it as much as I liked writing
it!  Your comments are always welcome!

Cindy