Title: It’s Just A Nightmare

By Morgana

Fandom: Babylon 5

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Susan Ivanova/Marcus Cole

Summary: Jason Carter visits Babylon 5

Disclaimer: No stories or pieces of artwork archived here are meant to infringe upon the copyright held by J. Michael Straczynski, Babylonian Inc. or Time Warner Productions.

A moan, filled with obvious pain flowed from Jason's lips as he tried opening his bloodshed eyes and he cursed the fact that he had been drinking heavily the night before. Now, hours later, lying in a warm bed Jason felt truly thankful that his brother hadn't locked him out because he had been that late. ** I need some painkillers and more importantly, some Alka Seltzer. I should have taken them before going to bed.**

But he had fallen asleep the moment his body had hit the soft comfort of the bed. His head was pounding aggressively and his upset stomach cried out with displeasure. He should have known better than to mix all those alcoholic drinks. Thank God that his performance time was set on 1400 hours. Hopefully his headache would be gone by that time.

Still trying to open his eyes Jason mused about the fact that this bed was really awfully hard. Searching the surface with his hands he reached the conclusion that he’d rolled out of bed during the night and must have landed on the floor. Jason Carter was determined to stay away from all alcohol this evening, **Except for beer perhaps,** he mused.

** What? ** His ranger training had made a light sleeper out of him and the unexpected sound had been loud enough to attract his attention. The weird thing about it was that he was supposed to be alone in his quarters, so who was making this noise? Slipping his still closed pike into his hand Marcus knew from personal experience that it could never hurt to be careful. These were insane times.

He had just returned from a mission with Susan during which they had discovered a hidden Vorlon fleet in hyperspace. Sighing, the ranger remembered trying to tell her that she was the one he was waiting for, but he had failed miserably; his courage had once more eluded him.

The ranger forced himself to refrain from following up on that line of thought. There was something weird going on in his quarters and thinking of the woman he secretly loved wasn't going to help him concentrate on a possible attacker. Should he call for the lights? No, that move would also give the unknown intruder an advantage. The moaning grew louder and Marcus decided to take the risk.

"Lights, normal setting." The darkness disappeared and he focused on the man huddled on the floor who was clutching his head in pain.

"Stupid lights... I have got a splitting headache... Kill those lights!"

The ranger rose from his bed, ready to open his pike. Puzzled, Marcus realized he had no idea how this stranger had managed to get into his quarters and he was resolved to find out. The stranger was wearing blue trousers and a blue jacket. His face remained hidden underneath dark hair. The voice sounded awfully familiar though in a very strange kind of way... It sounded British, very British.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" Realizing he was in no immediate danger Marcus slipped his pike underneath his cloak. Something told him that he didn't need it. What he did need however, were answers. Looking at the door he saw no signs of forced entry. Waiting for the stranger to answer him Marcus studied the man.

"I hate hangovers. I don't suppose you have some Alka Seltzer? I shouldn't have mixed all those drinks... but they always buy me beer and stuff... can't refuse them..." the stranger whispered in a shaky tone.

"I really want some answers or I'm going to alert security. I know for sure Mr. Garibaldi has his ways to make you talk."

"Garibaldi? What...?" Was he dreaming? That was it. It was just a nightmare brought on by the alcohol he had consumed last night. " I stopped filming those episodes years ago... must be my memory playing tricks on me." Raising his head Jason stared at the man who had threatened to call Garibaldi and for a moment... and forgot to breathe. Then Jason started to laugh. This was too weird. He recognized the man standing next to him... It was Marcus Cole, clad in his ranger uniform. This was one hell of an alcohol induced dream! "This is too much... Claudia is going to laugh her ass off when I tell her about this dream,." he quipped.

"You still haven't answered my questions." Marcus couldn't see the man's face and was getting annoyed. About to call in security the ranger sucked in his breath when the intruder raised his head to answer his question.

"I'm Jason Carter..." Jason stared at the man in front of him, fighting the absurdity of the situation.

Marcus also realized the uncanny resemblance. The stranger, this Jason, appeared to expect him to know that name, but the ranger didn't. " You look like me," Marcus mumbled.

Jason shook his head in denial and regretted it at once as his headache worsened. He decided against telling Claudia about this dream. She would tease him the rest of his life with it. "No, YOU look like me. I'm the original, " Jason corrected him. Pinching himself Jason realized that this was really happening.

Marcus helped him to his feet and walked him over to the small bed.

"At least it's not a Minbari bed," Jason sighed and sat down, clutching his head with both his hands.

"I'm not sure I have any painkillers. In the meantime, you'd better explain what's going on," Marcus told him, searching some cupboards.

Jason studied the quarters. Damn, it was a perfect replica of the props used in filming Babylon 5. The only things missing were the cameras and the director shouting directions at him. This was so unreal. He was doing his best to convince himself that he was still asleep in his brother's house, but he couldn't pull it off. His very hangover was proving him wrong.

"Here, take these," Marcus said in a calm tone.

Jason accepted the glass of water and the painkillers. While swallowing the damned things he was once more reminded that this wasn't a dream.

"I want an explanation," Marcus told him in a demanding manner.

"Hell, I want one myself.You can't be here." Jason studied his counterpart; lost for words.

"I'm still waiting," the ranger reminded him.

"A bit irritated, aren't we? Well, I would be frustated too... after all, you're still a virgin at 35," Jason wisecracked.

"How do you know that?" Marcus stared at the floor. This stranger appeared to know a lot about him, even the most private stuff.

Jason was relieved when the painkillers started to take effect.** This is good stuff! ** he thought, wishing he could take a supply back home with him.

"How do you know that I am a virgin? Nobody knows," the ranger said softly, taken aback.

Jason clutched his head again, determined to find out what had happened. " Hey, perhaps that's why I'm here... to get you laid!" he said grinning mischievelously. This was going to be fun now he had decided not to worry about it any longer.** I'm going to change the sexual status of my alter ego..!** he thought amused.

Susan Ivanova was mad, howling mad. C&C had been a perfect example of incompetence today and she had been the one they had turned to solve everything. She had just had it for today and needed some vodka badly...** No, make that a bottle of vodka!** The Commander made sure that she sat down in a dark corner in Earhart’s where no one would notice her. The bartender brought her the bottle of vodka she had asked for and a shot glass. Everybody stayed clear from her, sensing her foul mood. Susan smiled, being alone had been her intention all along. She wanted to be alone....** No that isn't completely true.** She just couldn't acknowledge the fact that she needed somebody to talk to.

"You can't be serious, Jason. I can't go to Earhart’s; it's for Earthforce only. If Susan is in there she will kick me, us, out. Or even worse, space us," Marcus objected to the stranger's plan in a firm tone.

"You really need a shag. Susan isn't going to kill you..." Jason had had the most brilliant idea ever. After he had slipped into Marcus' spare ranger uniform he’d shaved and had looked at their reflection in the mirror. " Never knew I had a twin brother!" Jason joked. There was no way Susan was going to be able to tell them apart. Jason had to mentally prepare himself for the moment that he was going to meet Susan, telling himself to remember that it wasn't Claudia, playing Susan Ivanova. If only Claudia could be here as well.

Jason grinned and dragged Marcus along with him. He had told Marcus that Sinclair had sent him through time on some mission and that he was somehow related to the ranger thus explaining their resemblance. Jason doubted that Marcus would be able to understand the truth... Hello, I'm from the year 1999 and I played your part on Babylon 5... You died a virgin and were placed in cryo. And I, the actor, never got over the fact that I or rather you died a virgin!

"What are going to tell her? How will you explain who you are?" the ranger wanted to know.

"I'm your long lost cousin... She will be too baffled to question that explanation. We even have the same accent... Don't worry that much, Marcus!" Jason said trying to make the ranger relax. After one moment of gathering his composure Jason dragged him into Earhart’s. They had no trouble getting in, which surprised Marcus. The ranger noticed that they were getting a lot of attention; people were pointing at them.

"Just ignore them." Jason spotted Susan in the corner of the room and grinned, seeing her stunned look. He was truly going to enjoy this. Susan would be a lot easier to handle than Claudia, that was for sure. " My cousin and I will have some beer please," Jason told the bartender and made sure that Susan heared the words from across the room.

Marcus felt uneasy and poked the stranger in his side. " I don't drink alcohol."

"You do. You just don't know it yet," Jason wisecracked and handed him the glass. Marcus accepted it reluctantly, watching Jason as the stranger emptied the glass in one go.

"I needed that," Jason sighed and beckoned the bartender to refill his glass.

Marcus sensed that he was being watched and turned about to look right into the eyes of Susan Ivanova. Bolts of electricity spread through his body upon seeing her. This Jason was going to ruin the small chance he had with her, but Marcus had no idea how to get rid off his lookalike. Defeated, the ranger sighed and sipped cautiously from the beer. It didn't taste that bad.

"Come on. You're a man, empty it!" Jason exclaimed.

Marcus was getting desperate, so he drank the beer and then slammed the glass onto the counter; glad it was empty now.

"Give him another one."

"NO!" Marcus told Jason, but the stranger only laughed. Marcus tried telling the bartender not to refill the glass, but the man behind the counter ignored him and exchanged an approving glance with Jason. Marcus knew he was in trouble.

"You want her to be interested in you, don't you? And by the looks of it she's dying of curiousity."

Marcus had to agree with him. He had never seen Susan this amazed before.

Susan couldn't believe her eyes... and looked at her bottle... she'd only had two shot glasses of vodka and already she was seeing ... not one ranger, but two of them? Was God really this cruel? It was a full time job to shut Marcus up and now there were two of them? Her eyes stared at them and then she caught one of them saying that he wanted to order beer? Marcus never drank alcohol. She had to find out what was going on and after grabbing her bottle of vodka she walked over to them.

Jason grinned, noticing the strangled look on Marcus' face. This was a perfect plan which would bring the two of them together. But he would need some help from Stephen and Garibaldi. Now that he had accepted the fact that he was on Babylon 5 Jason focused on the ranger and was amused to see him struggle for breath the moment Susan moved to stand next to him.

Marcus felt her body heat as she leaned over to check the content of his glass.

"Beer? " Ivanova asked.

"Of course," Jason replied, noticing that Marcus wasn't capable of speech so he decided to jump in there. Susan gave him a questioning look. The game was afoot and he was going to make her suffer. " Hello, darling. I'm Jason, a cousin of Marcus."

"I thought you had no family left?" Susan asked the ranger, who was still staring at her. Susan raised an eyebrow realizing something was wrong, very wrong. It was only then when she realized that this Jason had called her darling. How did he dare to call her that? She wanted to shout at him for his impertence, but then he took her hand and kissed it. Speecheless she glared at him.

"Marcus told me a lot about you. You're gorgeous. He's right when he says that you're the most beautifull woman he has ever seen," Jason complimented her and watched her reaction. He had to use all his discipline not to burst out laughing. Marcus spat out the beer he had been drinking and the liquid ended up on the floor.

Susan however raised an eyebrow and stared at Marcus. She had taught herself some Minbari and had discovered the true meaning of those words he had spoken to her a long time ago.

Marcus was contemplating murder just to get rid off this irrating Jason Carter, but reconsidered and drank the rest of the beer; starting to feel the effect of the alcohol and everything became blurry. The bartender filled his glass once again; Marcus had reached a point past caring. Raising his glass he saluted Susan, who promptly joined him, drinking straight from the vodka bottle.

Jason watched them and was satisfied for now. He leaned closer to Susan to make sure that she was the only one hearing his words. " I do hope you won't keep him waiting much longer. He's desperately in love with you and the poor guy is still a virgin..."

Susan quickly took another sip and continued to stare at Marcus. She pulled Jason closer and whispered into his ear, " He's in love with me?"

"Don't tell me you didn't know that. He told you on the White Star. He's is so shy..."

Susan swallowed some more vodka. She'd suspected that Marcus loved her since she'd returned those roses to him. Perhaps the time had come to face reality, but she was afraid to getting hurt again. The thought that he was still a virgin intrigued her however. This babbling ranger had never before made love to one? She tried denying her arousel but to no avail. Damn Jason for confronting her with the truth!

Jason had done his evil deed and was now searching for another victim when he spotted Garibaldi and Stephen Franklin entering Earhart’s. Those were just the two people he needed.

"Excuse me… " Jason bowed slightly, grinning brightly. Marcus tried to keep him from leaving, but Jason didn't pay him any attention; he had a job to do. " You're on your own now, Marcus." Jason quickly shut up; he'd almost called the ranger Marcus Pole...

Marcus watched Jason heading over to Stephen and Garibaldi. The mayhem this man had started was still growing and the ranger wondered what he had gotten himself into.

"Stephen, I want to make an appointment for a physical. I am seeing double," Michael Garibaldi wiped his eyes as he spotted the two identical looking rangers.

Stephen looked in the same direction and was upset to discover that he was having the same problem. " I think I need to make one myself..."

Stephen poked Garibaldi in his side when one of the two rangers made his way over to their table, carrying two glasses of beer and one orange juice.

"Ah, gentlemen! Please allow me to introduce myself. As you can surely tell I'm related to that pain in the arse over there. I'm Jason... " He put the glasses down on the table and pulled up a chair.

"The resemblance... I can’t tell you apart," Stephen said honestly and accepted the beer, trying to stay calm. Two of them?

"Don't worry too much... I come bearing gifts," Jason quipped and watched them emptying their glasses. The OJ had been meant for Garibaldi, not wanting to tempt the Chief.

"Where do you come from? Marcus never told us..." the Chief wanted to know.

"Aha, that's a long story and I like telling stories, but I need something to drink first," Jason said and gestured the bartender to bring more drinks.

"You may look and talk like him, but at least you don't seem to be such pain in the ass," Garibaldi cringed when he pondered the presence of this new nag on the station, but decided that as long as the stranger was entertaining he could put up with it.

"Glad you like the drinks, but as I was saying..." Jason continued.

Stephen was in shock; he had tried several times to get a word in there, but Jason didn't give him any chance at all. And he'd thought Marcus had been hard to shut up! It was nearly impossible to silence Jason.

"As I was saying. I need your help," Jason babbled on, knowing they would play along, at least Garibaldi would.

After Jason had told them of his plan the Chief chuckled. ** I'm going to enjoy playing this trick on Susan and Marcus.**

"Count me in." Garibaldi had to time making that remark in the second Jason needed to breathe.

Jason looked at Stephen and smiled. " Come on, Stephen, this is your perfect opportunity to get some long overdue payback... Remember the time that Marcus got you locked up with all these parasites crawling around? You thought he had told Mr. Garibaldi here where the two of you were going..."

Stephen nodded. Jason had a point there." Count me in as well."

"Great, lets get the virgin ranger laid," Jason quipped.

"Virgin? He's a virgin?" Garibaldi grinned as well. This was going to be so... cruel and so much fun. " Yeah, lets get him laid!"

Marcus was too intimitated to look at Susan who had become very quiet during this last hour. She seemed upset for some reason. Taking hold of his fifth pint of beer Marcus realized he had never before drunk this amount of alcohol. Susan's vodka bottle was half empty. The Commander had done some serious drinking herself. Marcus closely observered Jason, Garibaldi and Stephen leaving Earhart’s, laughing and making faces at each other. His instincts told him that they were up to something. And to be honest, Marcus was afraid to find out what that was. As he downed his pint he felt Susan's eyes on him. He decided to stop drinking alcohol. The beer was making him feel even more depressed. Susan was so close and yet so far away.

Ivanova realized that she'd had enough for the evening. The vodka didn't taste as good as it normally did and her heart told her that it had something to do with the ranger standing in front of her; Marcus looked lost and sad. This silence was contrary to the way he normally behaved around her. An inner voice told her that she was the reason why he was in this peculiar mood. She realized something else as well. ** I don't want him to feel this depressed.**

The Commander believed every word Jason had said. She had known the truth for some time now. She had to decide where to go from here... give him his chance? Risk getting hurt again? Was he worth it? But then again, she had never before met someone like him. Someone who kept his promises, who made her a stupid chart, sent her flowers.... Marcus had always been there for her. Perhaps she should try one more time. What good was being alive without hope, was her life worth without love? Her heart had already made the decison for her and she couldn't ignore it any longer. She had ignored its words for far too long.

By this time Marcus was convinced that Jason was an evil demon, sent to make his life even more miserable. He had not been able to hear the words Jason had whispered into Susan's ear, but her expression had definitely changed after that. The cold, hard- nosed Commander he was used to, seemed to have mellowed quite a bit and she smiled shyly at him. The ranger had never seen her look shy before and it cracked his heart in two. Having no idea what was going on made him feel very uncomfortable and Marcus decided to retreat to the safety of his quarters. But first he was going to change his access code so Jason couldn't get inside again. That would teach this Jason character to treat him like this!

"Sorry, Susan, but I'm not used to drinking this much and it would be best if I headed back to my quarters now... I hope I can find my way back." Marcus avoided her eyes and started walking, only to find that he was swaying on his feet. This couldn't be happening to him!

Susan eyed him with obvious concern. She knew that he didn't normally drink and the revelation brought on by Jason was still haunting her. How would it feel... making love to Marcus? The vodka made it hard to suppress her true feelings for him... She loved him... wanted him. "Perhaps it would be best if I accompanied you to your quarters. Looks like you're drunk." Susan smiled while taking his arm to steady him.

Marcus cringed when she touched him. She had never been this close to him before and her fragrance was intoxicating him swiftly. " I..." Marcus realized that he was speechless. ** I don't want her to see me like this; drunk. But this could be the chance I've been hoping for, perhaps there's a way to tell her that I love her. **

"That would be very kind of you..." he said softly. Marcus almost tripped over his own two feet when Susan dragged him to the exit, ignoring all the looks they were getting. Marcus held onto her...His stomach was in the middle of doing somersaults and his head was spinning like crazy. The ranger had no idea where she was taking him. It frightened Marcus that he had to rely on Susan to take him to his quarters.

Susan was having a really annoying discussion with her inner voice. It was telling her that the time had arrived to stop pretending that she didn't like him and she was trying hard to shut it up, which wasn't working. In the end she sighed and gave in. Her gaze drifted to Marcus' face. His eyes were half closed and she could almost feel the desire in his mind, now that all his barriers were down.

** Damnit, Susan, get out of his mind!** She was angry at herself; she hadn't planned on peeking inside his mind like that. But it was true... true love and she had no chance fighting this. The choices offered to her were downright painful; give in and risk getting hurt again or staying away from him and damning the both of them to a life of unrequited love. Her heart urged her to make the proper choice and for once she listened to it.

Marcus felt her tugging at his sleeve. He had no idea what was going on, he only wanted to sleep.

"Marcus? What's your access code?" she asked. ** And where did Stephen, Michael and Jason disappear to? Why do I have this feeling something bad is going to happen?** she wondered.

Marcus heard her question at last... but what was his access code? He had changed it only yesterday... before Jason had shown up. ** Think !**

"I think it's Booji." he said at last.

Susan grabbed his waist as he started to sway on his feet once more. " Booji? " She remembered the joke he had made while trying to figure out how to get the First Ones to co-operate with them. She punched in the access code and was relieved when the door opened and peeked inside. She knew about Michael's ideas of practical jokes and she was distrustful of this situation. It seemed safe though.

The lights were on and she saw the bed at once. She led him there and forced him to lay down. He was instantly asleep and had curled himself into a tight ball. Susan sat down next to him, too tired to make it back to her own quarters. Laying down next to him Ivanova cradled him in her arms, smelling the male scent of him as she buried her face in his hair. Marcus... he was the last thing she thought about before falling asleep that night.

Jason was very pleased with himself, very pleased indeed. Garibaldi had installed a tiny camera inside Marcus' quarters. They were going to make sure everything went right. Jason suspected that Marcus' would need to return to his quarters; the beer would make him feel tired. No surprises there.

"Here....." Stephen threw him a can of beer.

Jason managed to catch it. Garibaldi missed catching his canned orange juice and it rolled underneath the bed. Jason couldn't help laughing... the look on Garibaldi's face... Slapping himself on his knees he realized that Garibaldi was throwing dirty looks at him.

"Sorry...." Jason tried to behave himself, but the beer and the idea of peeking into Marcus' quarters were too much.

"So, why are you doing this to him? This was your idea after all?" Stephen was amazed he'd managed to get a whole sentence out in the open, expecting Jason to mouth off again. But Jason was staring at the Babscreen.

"Come on... Marcus is a virgin... an engineer, a ranger... He's 35... lets get him laid!" Jason was enjoying his beer. The grin was echoed by Garibaldi.

"I never thought he was still a virgin...That big mouth of yours reminds me of him. He can be hard to shut up at times... But you're even more annoying!"

"Do you think so, Mr. Garibaldi? Perhaps I can distract you while waiting by reciting some poetry I have been writing? I will start with :

The Unfairness Of Orgasm.

Your screaming tears

the plaster off the walls

Your head explodes

and thoughts are lost in heat.

But when I shoot

the contents of my balls,

I still can hear the traffic

in the street.

Garibaldi no longer had any control over the contents of his mouth and the orange juice went flying through the room.

Jason had to duck or it he would have been hit." I always thought poetry would be lost on you," Jason chuckled. Stephen sat down and Jason handed him another beer.

Garibaldi wanted to throw a punch at him, but was stopped when the screen showed some movement. They watched Susan and Marcus enter the room and go to sleep.

Marcus woke up several minutes after he had closed his eyes. He was totally baffled to find Susan Ivanova in his arms. She was asleep; her body molded against his. The ranger was still sleepy, but the realization that the woman he loved was resting in his arms made him suddenly feel very much awake. Smoothing back her hair he made sure that she was resting comfortably in his embrace.

"You will never know... how much I love you," he whispered in a broken tone. Marcus closed his eyes again as slumber claimed him once more and didn't see Susan opening her eyes, staring at him.

There was puzzlement in her eyes as her fingers caressed his face. " But I do know, Marcus... "she mumbled softly. Susan kissed him, hesitantly, but he didn't wake up. Relaxing in his embrace the Commander snuggled up to him. Boy, was he in for a surprise when he woke up!

"You owe me 50 credits, Michael," Jason quipped; he'd won his first bet. To him it had been no surprise to see Susan lie down and cling to Marcus for the rest of the night.

"Damn, I'm never again going to bet against you for the rest of my life. You've an advantage here; you know Marcus. He's your cousin," the Chief told him.

Jason looked at the credit chips. He had only seen them as props before. Slipping them into one of his pockets he focused on another victim. Well, Mr.Garibaldi wasn't going to place anymore bets. That left Stephen as his next victim. " Stephen?..."

Marcus was the first to wake up in the morning. The computer had woken him.

"It is 0600 hours and you have one message from Lennier," the computer told him.

"Shut... u... up, stupid ma...chine," Marcus stuttered and tried opening his eyes. Thankfully no headaches bothered him, but there was something warm in his arms that hadn't been there before. With tremendous effort he managed to open his eyes and slammed them tight shut a second later. ** I'm having illusions of grandeur again.**

"Good morning., Marcus."

It was Susan's voice and it sounded unusually chipper.

"What...?" Marcus felt her move in his arms. What was she doing here?

"Marcus, are you alright? Hangovers can be hell," she told him.

"I'm fine," ** I'm only wondering how you ended up in my bed!** Marcus was trying hard to understand what was going on. He had drunk too much beer because of that irritating Jason. The ranger also remembered Susan's offer to walk him home. But why was she here, still in his arms?

"You don't remember that much, do you?" Susan watched him amused. He was trying to remember what had happened. Susan felt comfortable and safe in his arms and decided to stay there.

Marcus was afraid to ask why she was still here, afraid, to shatter this lovely delusion.

Susan saw his hesitance and decided that it was time to make the first move. " You whispered something into my ear while we were still asleep. Remember?"

Marcus shivered slightly as memory returned to him. He had told her he loved her, being convinced that she was asleep and couldn't hear him. " You’ve heard my words?" he asked dismayed.

"I was awake, of course I did," Susan heard the fear in his voice.

Marcus swallowed hard. Why had she not yet dragged him out of the bed to kick him out of an airlock? ** I have to do something, but what?** The ranger felt paralyzed.

Marcus?" Susan raised his head slightly so he had to look her in the eyes." Why didn't you tell me sooner that you love me? You could have told me on the White Star. You aren’t embarrassed to tell me that you're a virgin, but you can’t tell me that it's me you've been waiting for?"

Marcus was lost, staring into her warm, blue eyes. There had never before been such kindness and warmth in them and he savored this feeling; trying to memorize the expression in her eyes. " I ... know about your relationship with Talia... The way you discovered that she was a Psi Corps plant... I can sense the hurt deep inside of you and I don't want to hurt you more. I know that you can't bear the feeling of being hurt again," he explained in a hurt tone.

Tears were trying to surface in her eyes. He cared so much for her... it frightened her at the same time. ** Marcus knows me so well. It's true. I'm afraid of getting hurt again.** Susan realized that he would never hurt her. She was the most important thing in his life. ** I have to burn all these bridges behind me and I must look towards the future.** Doing that scared her, but by looking into his eyes Marcus gave her all the courage she would ever need.

"Marcus... I can't deny it any longer. You made me talk to my heart once more. I thought it had died with Talia, but I realize that it didn't. I'm in love with you too, Marcus," she admitted while looking into his eyes.

"I think we should give them some privacy at this point. Seems so me that you won another bet, Jason." Stephen terminated the connection to Marcus' quarters the moment Susan kissed Marcus passionately and the doctor threw Jason some credits. He should have listened to Michael. Jason had won over 100 credits this evening!

"You don't play fair, Stephen," Jason was a bit disappointed to see the screen turn black once more. He glared at Michael who had fallen asleep in his chair.

"Another beer?" Franklin asked. Stephen was amazed when Jason shook his head in denial.

"I think I had enough. I still need to find a place to sleep tonight. Marcus isn't going to let me in."

Stephen nodded. " You can take the couch, as long as I get my bed. I hope we'll be able to sleep." Stephen pointed at Michael who had started to snore terribly.

"I'm so tired that I can sleep anywhere, anytime." Jason moved over to the couch and rested his exhausted body. He was almost asleep when he heard Michael talk in his sleep.

"35 and still a virgin."

Jason chuckled and surrendered to sleep.

Jason woke because somebody was shouting at him, urging him to wake up. It took him a moment to recognize his brother's voice. " I'm awake," he mumbled. As his brother moved away from the door he stretched lazily. Opening his eyes he was relieved to have no hangover. He looked at the time and almost jumped out of bed. It was 1330 and he was going to be late again for his gig at the convention. After grabbing some towels Jason showered quickly. It had been such a vivid dream that he was able to recall everything about it. After tossing the towels into the laundry basket he got dressed.

As he checked the time once more it was 1400 hours. Jason still wondered why the audience put up with him, being late every gig. He combed his hair and almost forgot his little black bag before running over to the car which was going to take him to the hotel. Waving at his brother he finally calmed down. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on Stephen's couch, then he had woken up in his brother's house.

Jason decided to drink less this evening and he wasn't going to tell anyone about this dream he’d had. The car stopped and Jason ran towards the entrance of the hotel, receiving some cheers in the progress from fans who were laughing at him for being late again. Jason walked into the crowd and managed to get on stage. He was surprised to see that they were showing some kind of trailer which he had never seen it before. The weird thing about it was that he was playing a part in this trailer.

Marcus was sitting in the command seat on a White Star and Jason almost choked when Susan Ivanova walked over to the ranger to hold his hand. The trailer ended and Jason was truly confused. He didn't remember ever acting that part. Hearing the announcement he faced the fans who seemed to be eagerly awaiting him. Jason felt that the safest thing to do was to let the audience ask questions.

"Hello Jason, so how does it feel to be the main character in Crusade?"

Jason was baffled, he hadn't been cast for any part in that spin off!

"I wanted to ask one more thing, " the fan added, " How did it feel to play that love scene with Claudia in which you actually got laid?"

Now Jason had to sit down on stage. This was too much. Was he still dreaming?

"Let me see if I can answer that one for you. It looks like you left Jason speechless, which is something to remember because it doesn't happen that often," Claudia said, while walking onto the stage, grinning at him. " I think it was the best idea Joe ever had. Joe originally planned to have Marcus die a virgin and then put him into cryo. But I'm glad that he decided not to pursue that plot line. Marcus losing his virginity to ME, which was a much better idea. Marcus and Ivanova were the best choices to star in Crusade and as we know the Crusade episodes are being aired in several countries."

Confused, Jason clutched his head; he was losing his grip on reality.

"Hey, Jason, look on the bright side, you won't be unemployed for a very long time.. neither will I," Claudia wisecracked.

Jason stared at the last picture of the trailer, still visible on the screen. It showed Marcus and Susan sharing a tender kiss...Was Marcus grinning at him?

The End