Generations - Reunion

It had been a week since she had first felt Mark’s return. Three days in which her whole being had screamed out to find him; to find out why he had abandoned her.

And why he had come back.

Each morning, they felt his soft touch, checking to see if his team was there. Each morning, she felt Jason’s pain at that touch. Each morning, he had reached for her immediately afterwards, his lovemaking almost brutal as he snarled, “You’re mine”.

And she accepted it, knowing why he was reacting this way. After all, nobody knew how Jason worked like she did. They’d known each other for a lifetime, been lovers for fourteen years. She knew how deeply and completely he loved, and had been in awe of the very depth of his love for her. Especially when she had realised that love had, for many years been.

She knew he feared that all they had built would be shattered.

Because Mark wasn’t dead. Because he had come back.

Oh, they had always felt he wasn’t dead. All the team knew that, no matter what separated them, they would know if one of them died. But the fact that he had been alive and had not returned meant that, for all intents and purposes, they considered him as dead as he obviously considered them.

It should have ended there. She should be able to consider him part of her past. To continue her life with Jason. She did love him; at times she was a little frightened of the intensity of her love for him. She treasured all his quirks, and knew that, as a team and as a couple, they suited each other.

But… she still loved Mark. Not as a romantic dream, but as the person she had always known. The man she had married. They had always made a bit of a joke about their “connection”, but she and Mark both knew and accepted that their connection was a bond as vital as life itself. It was how she had been sure he wasn’t dead. Knowing that, no matter what, she would have felt it.

But he had abandoned her, and that had shaken her to her very core. If she was honest, it still did. It was completely out of character for him and she was curious to find the motivation behind it.

She had Jason. She had her children. And still she hadn’t been able to leave Mark behind. Even if Chris hadn’t been a living reminder of her missing husband, she knew that Mark was her soul mate.

She looked at the rings on her left hand. The plain gold wedding band Mark had given her and, nestling next to it, the band Jason had given her. The two rings showed the differences between the two men.

Mark’s gold band – open and honest as Mark himself. Mark’s typical straightforwardness showing in the plain ribbon of gold.

The band from Jason was a beautiful antique ring, the coloured gems spelling out the word “dearest”. And that was Jason, the tough guy with the hidden softness. The deeply hidden romantic that she loved to see peep out.

She hadn’t been able to take off her wedding ring, just as she hadn’t been able to sign the divorce papers. Everybody had expected it, even Anderson. He admitted that she had the right to move on.

The only person not surprised was Jason. But then, he knew her like she knew him. He knew that the streak of loyalty in her wouldn’t allow her to divorce Mark without him being there, without getting some sort of explanation from him first.

He knew that she loved Mark too much to even contemplate divorcing him.

Princess looked at the sleeping man beside her, his face tear-stained and body twitching. She sighed and put her hand on his bare shoulder. The last three mornings; fierce – no, violent - sex, followed by Jason’s horror at what he had done. She knew that it was preying on his mind, giving him nightmares. She gently caressed his shoulder and he calmed down somewhat.

She had to see Mark. Had to confront him. That way, she could move on. Her life could continue.

Bending down she kissed Jason’s shoulder, preparing to curl up against him for more sleep. Then she felt it. That frisson through her that meant only one thing.

Mark was near.

She slipped out of bed, her nakedness forgotten as she moved towards the floor-to-ceiling windows of their bedroom, drawing aside the curtain.

Nothing. He was near. She was sure of it. She couldn’t mistake that feeling, that very intimate feeling. She’d never felt it with anybody else. She glanced back at the man in her bed. Not even with him. Only Mark.

She looked out at the early morning landscape, not knowing whether or not she wanted to see him there or not.

But the view remained Mark-less. Only her feelings screamed he was near.

A pair of arms circled her, and she felt Jason kiss her neck.

“Problem?”

“No,” she said turning in his arms. “No problem.”

“I’m sorry, love. I hurt you earlier.”

She raised her finger to his lips. “We’ve come through worse, Jason. We’ll come through this. I do understand, you know.”

He caught her hand and cradled it against his cheek. “I don’t want to loose you, love. Every time I feel him, I feel like I’m going to loose the most precious things in my life. It hurts, Princess. Like my heart’s being ripped from me.”

They held each other close, hearts bruised, minds confused.

Neither one noticed the tall man watching from the distance. But some instinct made made sure they both knew he was there.

Knowledge of his presence was hardwired into them. That decision had been made when they were twelve and had their cerebonic implants done.

That knowledge brought out all the defiance that Jason showed towards his Commander. He’d show Mark who their beautiful Swan belonged to. Jason lifted her up and carried her back to bed, the rising sun surrounding them with a golden glow.

And he felt her shudder as he held her close to him. He didn’t want to look into her eyes and see the conflict there.

Because, deep in his heart, he knew that there was a very good chance that she really did belong to Mark.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0

Mark didn’t know why he had come here. He had found their address from hacking into the ISO computer system using the codes given to him by Anderson.

At first, he thought it was curiosity. A need to see where she lived. To confirm that she and Jason were lovers.

But then he acknowledged that it was a need to be near enough to her to feel her in his veins.

He had to talk to her. Had to see her. Wanted to kiss her, to make love to her. To pretend that the past eighteen years had been nothing more than a bad dream. To go to sleep with her, and hope that they would wake up in the morning, a newly married couple again, who had shared a nightmare.

But he knew that wouldn’t happen.

He was still badly shaken at his discoveries from his computer hacking. To find that he had a son. Now he knew what Anderson, and even his own father, had hidden from him. His anger had been immense. If he had known his Lexa was pregnant, nothing would have kept him from her.

As both Anderson and his father knew. It explained the missing photographs in Anderson’s apartment when he was there. The feeling that Anderson had been holding something back from him. Why he didn’t want him to see Lexa at home.

He shook as he thought of the deception that had been practiced, but acknowledged that part of it was his own fault.

But then, by the time he was able to return, he couldn’t. Not after what he’d done. What he had become. He couldn’t face them.

He saw a silhouette behind the sheer curtains and slipped into the deep shadows, unseen, unheard. A woman’s hand opened the drape, and his breath caught as it swung aside to reveal the form of his wife. Naked. It had been eighteen years since he had been treated to that sight, and he let out his breath in a moan of longing. His heart-rate increased as it always did when he was near her. She was still stunning. More mature, and no longer the slender girl she had been. She was a woman now, but still, to his thoughts, the most beautiful girl in the galaxy.

He smiled at the description. It had been an intimate reminder between them, and it made his heart sing to realise that it was still true.

He watched her, knowing she was looking for him but unable to make his presence known. He froze as a man came behind her, embracing her. He couldn’t stop watching, and his heart sank as he recognised Jason and registered the small things that spoke of a long-term relationship.

Mark knew of that – he’d caught a glimpse of it on the day he arrived, it had been confirmed in his hacking. But that didn’t mean he accepted it.

Mark couldn’t help snarling as he watched, couldn’t help the screaming inside him.

That was his wife. She belonged to him.

He loved her so much; the thought of her had been all that got him through the darkest parts of the last years.

Their bond was unbreakable, wasn’t it? That connection between them … dammit, they were soul mates!

He felt tears start as he saw Jason pick her up, the drapes closing as they moved away.

He needed her. Needed to feel her close, to hold her, love her.

He couldn’t put it off any longer. He had already broken two appointments to see her, delayed going into his Office, knew he was avoiding her. Today. He had to do it today. If she knew the truth, then everything could go back the way it was. The way it should always have been.

Couldn’t it?