From: "Becki H. Blumer" Subject: Fan Fiction Submission: The Mark of a Hero: Amaranth Date: Sun, 02 May 1999 20:26:05 -0500 Meredith D. Holt crystal_lady3969@yahoo.com The Mark of a Hero: Amaranth Warnings: Rape Hello, This is just a little tag, a gap filler, if you will, for the space in between "On Winds of Time" and "In the Shadow of My Dreams". Thanks to Kendell, Peggy and the Ladies, as well as Heike, for imput. All comments are welcome at crystal_lady3969@yahoo.com. Thanks. Love Always, Meredith Legal Disclaimer: JMS is the creator of this wonderful playground. I'm only enjoying his characters for a little while. Aleia, Elly, Wes, Anakin, and the gang are mine. Personal Disclaimer: As any one who took up this kind of project would be, I'm nuts. The Mark of a Hero: Amaranth by Meredith D. Holt crystal_lady3969@yahoo.com Mr. Garibaldi was dreaming, dreams he wouldn't remember in the morning. Dreams of his torture, interrogation and reprogramming. Dreams the real Michael trapped inside desperately wanted to surface, in the futile hope it might save Aleia. **** "Mr. Tomson," the Psi Cop Bester said harshly. The taller man looked at his annoyance of a superior with false deference in his eyes. "Mr. Bester?" "Is he ready for reprogramming yet? We don't have ALL day." the Psi Cop pronounced impatiently. Nick Tomson thought, hiding it from the P12 beside him. "Almost." came his uttered reply. There, the balding man on the table's psyche was suitably drugged and confused enough for the reprogramming to place. "Are you sure you don't want a full reprogramming?" "No, it would make them suspicious, and besides, he has qualities we can use." Bester instructed him. Nick set to work, stimulating certain areas of the man called Michael Garibaldi's personality. The distaste for authority figures was now blatant hatred, his suspicious nature was increased. Then Nick ran across something hidden deeply in the man's mind. "Well, isn't that interesting." he commented out loud. "What, what?" squawked the man beside him. "The woman, the one who married the Minbari..." Nick trailed off as he felt fierce hatred from Bester. "Yes, yes? Ms. Holt-stargate, what about her?" "Well, it would seem he was in love with her at one point, probably still is." Nick said softly as he read the memories hidden there. "I don't think he cares much for her husband." Bester thought on this. He hated Aleia Holt-stargate with vengeance, she had humiliated him three times so far, and had demonstrated that she wouldn't hesitate to do it again. He could kill two or maybe even three birds with a single stone. "Bring out those memories, I want those at the fore, and increase his distaste for her husband." Bester said with conviction. Nick looked at him oddly, but obeyed. This was certainly going to be a very weird day.**** The small alarm crystal by the bed Aleia and Lennier shared blinked and hummed slightly. Aleia, who had slept fitfully all night, rolled over and touched it, deactivating the small device. Quietly, so as not to awaken her sleeping husband, she swung her legs over the bed, wary of her tender abdomen. She touched it gently with her fingers as she got dressed, the tiny seed of life within was already taking hold. Three months along, she smiled. Finally, she kissed her sleeping husband good-bye and scribbled a note to leave on the bed side table. Michael Garibaldi had invited her over for breakfast, and she had to admit, she was a little wary of him these days. Ever since Zak found him, Michael had been acting rather oddly, eventually resigning from his position of Security Chief. It didn't seem like something the Mickey she knew would do, but if it made him happy, then she supposed it was good enough. She whistled gently as she made her way towards his quarters, only a level and a corridor down from hers. She rang the door chime, and he took a second to answer. "Hey, Aleia." he said as he showed her in. "Hi, Mickey." She said as she swept past, unknowingly stepping into the nightmare that would haunt her for the rest of her life.... "So, how's life as a private investigator working for you?" Aleia asked as she took a seat, and Michael went to get their coffee. "Ehhh, its pretty great, I mean, I get to work my own hours, set my own pay, don't have to where a uniform anymore..." he trailed off for a second. Had Aleia been watching closer, she would have seen a small package of white powder being poured into her cup. "But?" she asked as he handed her the cup. "Well, you get your usual crazies here and there. They scare me sometimes. Some guy came up to me the other day, wanted me to find his cat and dog." "I don't see what's so crazy about that." she stated as she took a sip of the coffee. It tasted kind of weird. "He wanted to pay me 1000 credit per month to find them." Michael informed her as he handed her a plate of scrambled eggs. "Why would he pay that much to find a cat and dog?" Aleia asked as she took a bit of the eggs, "I take it these aren't REAL eggs?" "No, don't look to close. Anyway, he said they were trying to take over the universe." "Now THAT is crazy." Aleia laughed. She saw a black spot dance before her eyes. Probably just her morning sickness, she had forgotten to take her prescription this morning. "Aleia, come on, its me. Why are you so on the edge?" Michael asked as he leaned forward. "I'm sorry Mickey, its just, you've been acting a little weird lately, that's all." she told him. "Any weirder then our second coming Captain rising from the dead?" he asked harshly. Aleia looked astonished. "Michael, I know he's a little harder, but if you had been dead, don't you think you'd be a little cranky as well?" "Yeah, I guess." Michael said as she handed him her cup. Aleia tried to get up, and found that she could not. Frightened, she forced her body to stand, and the world became blurry before her very eyes. Her last thought was that this had been a very LARGE mistake. Lennier awoke to the absence of Aleia in their warm bed. Startled, he glanced at a small note on the bed side table. It was from Aleia; Lennier, Michael invited me over for breakfast today, and since I have to open the shop early today, I figured why not. Besides, I want to know why he's been acting so funny. Lyssa said she'd take Sofie down to the store when she goes to work today, so please remind her. Breakfast is in the freezer, I made it last night, so just warm it up. Love, Aleia Lennier shook his head, his wife was all efficiency. But he felt that something was wrong. A little head of brown curls appeared in the doorway, at that moment. Its was Sofie. *Pere,* she sent, stronger and with more urgency then usual. *Somethings wrong. Mere is hurt, the baby, Pere, the little baby in her tummy...* Sofie cried out as she dissolved into tears of hysteria. Lennier bolted out of bed and threw on his robe. Quickly, he called Captain Sheridan. "Captain, there's a problem." Lennier stated bluntly. The look on the Minbari's face told the Captain all he needed to know. "What's wrong?" he asked in fear. "I don't know. Sofie does, she says that Aleia is hurt and that the baby is in danger." Lennier informed him. By now they all knew that when the seven year-old girl said something was wrong, something WAS. "Do you know where she is?" Susan asked as she joined the Captain on screen. "She went to Michael's for breakfast." "Okay, come on." the Captain said, and he and Susan headed for Michael's quarters. Lennier ran out the door as well, so fast he didn't notice that a little girl was following him, hoping to save her mother and little sister before it was to late. Lennier arrived about five minutes after Susan and John did, and it was apparent by the look of things that they'd had to force their way in. As he entered, he the scene he beheld would long haunt him. There, against the wall, several security guards were hand cuffing Mr. Garibaldi, and John had his link activated and was speaking into it. "I need a med team in Red 13, level 7, stat!" he yelled. Susan and Delenn, who had joined them on the way down, where hunched over a form on the floor. Lennier's heart rose in his throat. It was Aleia, completely naked and laying a pool of what appeared to be the meager contents of her stomach. She was crying softly, as Delenn covered her up with a towel. Susan turned and looked at Michael, her gaze could have killed him right there. "Take him to holding, and if he moves, don't be nice!" Susan instructed them. Even the most loyal of the men Garibaldi had trained looked completely disgusted. Sofie ran into the room and past Lennier, heading straight to her mother. Suddenly, anger and hate flooded through him and Lennier intercepted the guards at the door and hit Mr. Garibaldi hard in the jaw. "Bastard!" he hissed. Garibaldi spat on him as the guards moved him away, and Lennier attention was directed back to his wife as he heard Sofie cry out; "The baby! Aunt Delenn, hurry, the baby's hurt, dying maybe." Lennier rushed to his wife's side, and by now she was completely inconsolable, her cries becoming screams. The med team arrived, among them, Elly and Stephen. "Oh, my god!" Elly cried as she ran to her sister and Stephen followed, to help pull the screaming woman onto the hospital cart. "What happened?" Elly asked as Delenn lowered her gaze. It was Susan who answered. "Mr. Garibaldi tried to rape her." Aleia's bruised body sat in isolab, the doctors were operating, trying to save the child from miscarriage. Sofie's face was pressed to the glass, looking in on the only mother she had ever known. Her Pere stood beside her, tears on his cheeks as well. It would take a long time for any of them to heal. A very long time indeed.