Title: In the Nick of Time

Author: Third Charm

Fandom: Babylon 5

Characters: Marcus Cole, Neroon, John Sheridan

Pairings: Anna Sheridan/John Sheridan (past), Delenn of Mir/John Sheridan (implied)

Story Type: Drama

Current Rating: T

Disclaimer: Babylon 5 and all subsequent major characters, plots, and ideas are the property of J. Michael Straczynski, Babylonian Inc. and Warner Brothers. The following story was written only for the purposes of entertainment. No income had been made.

Warnings: VERY, VERY AU and AT, profanity, and a rather dark take on our favorite characters' personalities.

Spoilers: You name it, but with "Grey Seventeen is Missing" in particular.

Summary: All is not as it seems when someone interrupts the den'shah. Basically, this is a rather dark take on our favorite characters' personalities, relationships and politics.

Acknowledgments: I must thank ckl for taking the time to beta read this story.

Author's Note: One Earth year equals 0.74 Minbari cycles. The Minbari words and phrases were found at the "JumpNow" website in John Hightower's Minbari dictionary, though not all are direct translations.

In the Nick of Time

The swirling dust and other minute debris made in the already murky light of Down-Below ten times worse. It made the field of vision in front of the hurried and harried Captain even more limited. It irritated both the lungs and the already short temper of that same Captain as well. Sheridan swore as he picked up the pace, hoping against hope to get to his destination before all Hell broke lose. As he rounded the next corner, he heard it; he heard a muffled statement that was the Challenge being given.

At that point, Sheridan cursed Lennier to the Hell of every race in existence, and to some of the extinct ones as well. That cold, lying little bastard had just sent one of the best operatives that John had ever worked with to his death – and the prissy little bonehead had known it the moment he'd visited Marcus. The ferocity of the profanity increased as Sheridan added another black mark to the little bastard's tally sheet.

Now, most people on Babylon 5 thought that there were two truths carved in stone. The first so-called truth was that Lennier was an innocent; a sheltered and innocent youth that could never harm any living thing, not even a flea. The second falsely believed truth, well, believed by everyone but the Minbari Warrior Caste, was that the Station's Captain was too honorable to do anything that even smelled of being underhanded. Both "truths" were fallacies of major proportions, and John Sheridan knew it. John knew exactly how much of an opportunistic and manipulative little shit Lennier could be and he knew exactly what the Priest was capable of doing. John also knew exactly what he himself was capable of both in the line of duty and in the protection of those he called his own.

Besides, if there one thing an Earth Force Captain didn't survive, especially during the War, it was being blind to both the situation and to those around him. Sheridan was alive. Hence, he wasn't blind. He knew EXACTLY why Lennier would not work with him, and that it had nothing to do with Minbari secrecy or any oaths the little weasel had given to Delenn.

Sheridan ground his teeth in frustrated anger. He'd had to put up with that infatuated, condescending little Machiavelli wannabe since he'd set foot on the Station. He'd had to deal with the "it's a Minbari matter" bullshit over and over again, always having to clean Delenn's, or rather, Lennier's messes up on the sly and with no heads-up. But that was going to change now! This was the end of the road for the pointy-headed manipulation front – and this was the LAST time Lennier was going to lie to him about a critical security situation, by omission or otherwise!

Sheridan's rage spiked again at the memory of the Minbari Priest. Lennier had pulled this stunt and actually thought he was going to get away with it! Oh, but the smarmy little bonehead was going to pay! The Captain loved the fact that he was about put such a huge crimp in the Minbari Priest's plans. Sheridan smirked to himself as he broke out into an all out run as he heard Neroon accept the damned Challenge. Too bad the little shit didn't know about John's own little network on the Station. Too bad that Lennier didn't know about John's "other" job or his "other" rank either. And it was really too bad for Lennier that John hadn't had to leave THAT organization when he'd broken away from Earth Force. Oh, but that little oversight was going to cost the robe-wearing bastard!

John skidded to a stop after rounding yet another darkened corner of the filthy maze known as Down-Below. The sight in front of him made his heart jump to his throat. The two combatants, one a Human in Ranger garb, the other a Minbari Warrior in the trademark black uniform of his Caste, stood opposite each other; right arms extended and denn'bok (Minbari fighting pike) grasping fists touching in salute.

As the Ranger and the Warrior broke apart and began to take dueling stances, Sheridan shook himself out of his trance. John pulled and charged his PPG, then yelled out, "Hold it, both of you!"

Both men spun to face him at John's yell. They both wore rather entertaining looks of surprise. Marcus Cole was giving one hell of an imitation of a goldfish while Alyt (Ship's Captain) Neroon, former Satai ("Ruler") of the Minbari, looked to be trying to express hatred, rage and surprise at the same time. It took everything John had to suppress his laughter at their looks.

This time, it was Neroon who broke out of his trance first. "The Challenge has been given and accepted. You cannot interfere, Star Killer!" he growled out.

"Captain, what…" the Ranger began only to be cut off by Sheridan's growl.

"Shut it, Cole!" he snarled out. "This stupidity is so not happening on my Station or on my watch! Neither of you two idiots to have thought of what the consequences to either of you fools dieing like this would be. Unfortunately, I've had to. Whatever words were uttered to start this mess, they have now been erased. They were NEVER said. This did NOT happen and will be wiped from memory, got it?"

Neither man answered. They both stared in stunned and mute silence at Sheridan. When Sheridan saw that he would get no answer, he went on.

"Good. Glad to see you understand. So, instead of having a body to have to clandestinely dispose of, and traveling trails or duty rosters to fake, I'm going to have one live Ranger to act as an advisor to that conniving Priestess who's about to mildly poison herself in the name of "Ritual" and "Tradition" and one live Warrior ex-Satai whose going be her ally in the coming Minbari brew ha-ha. And we're all going to double time it up to the ceremony so that we can all be "supportive" guests – NOW!!" Sheridan roared out even as he brought his PPG to bear on the enraged Warrior.

"How dare…" Neroon's raging charge and scream were both cut off by the PPG plasma burst that scorched the deck plating mere centimeters from his feet.

"I don't give a shit what you think I can dare or not! I care about keeping this Station together and keeping my people alive! And the best way to do that is for us to get up there now!" Sheridan snarled out. "Hand over your weapons, all of them boys, and get moving. And Neroon, if you so much as THINK of charging me again, I'll drop you where you stand and take the hard way out of this mess that that pointy-headed little snot has made!"

"Captain…" a now very worried Marcus began only to be cut off yet again by Sheridan's angry growl.

"I said shut it, Cole! And if you need more encouragement to follow orders, the code's "Omega Phoenix", clearance is "Obsidian Alpha Three"," Sheridan snapped out while motioning with his weapon for the two combatants to get a move on and never taking his eyes off of the seething Warrior before him.

Marcus Cole paled as he felt the dual knives of fear and dreaded surprise cut into him. He'd never thought he'd hear that code uttered again. That Sheridan had been the one to utter those words and give that clearance level as well twisted his insides into knots that hadn't even been there as he faced off with Neroon. The horrors of the past could be easily read in the younger man's eyes as he realized that the old adage was true; once you're in, you can never leave alive. Ranger's heart hammered as he acknowledged the orders.

"Sir, yes sir!" Marcus snapped out as he began to move in the direction Sheridan had indicated while collapsing his pike and unhooking his "unauthorized auxiliary pack" from his uniform belt.

Neroon still stayed rooted to his spot on the deck. He stared at the now moving Human Ranger in confusion. What had those Human words meant? Oh, he new they were important code words, but not what they meant. Why had they stopped this foolish Human Ranger's headlong charge into suicide? And why was Star Killer, Delenn's purported suitor, saying such things and acting in such a way? Neroon was truly flummoxed by what had just happened, and by what had been said, since he had not missed Star Killer using the terms "pointy-headed little snot", "conniving Priestess" and "coming Minbari brew ha-ha".

The Warrior shook off his confusion, and in the interest of gathering more intelligence, followed the Ranger's lead. Both he and Marcus handed over their personal weapons to Sheridan as they passed. Neroon's honor, not to mention smarting pride, tempted him to try and turn the tables on Star Killer as he held out his weapons for the Human to collect and stash away with his free hand. One look in the Human's eyes dissuaded him of those actions. From experience, the Minbari knew when he was facing a stone-cold killer, a being who could drop him in a split second and without a twinge of remorse. The PPG would go off before he could even get a firm enough grip for a Human-style "handshake" let alone a grappling hold.

When Sheridan had collected and stashed the various weapons in various pockets (Which he'd had added since Delenn's designers had been more interested in the look and not functionality of the damn thing.) of his uniform, he motioned the two men to move in front of him. Both the Ranger and the Warrior did so. Sheridan then moved slightly to the right and back of the Warrior, to better be able to clandestinely keep Neroon covered with his PPG.

"Move it, and make it double time!" Sheridan ordered.

The three now stone faced men quickly made their way through the corridors of Down-Below. They soon came to the first of a series of lifts. Sheridan ordered Marcus to activate it. They got in got in and the Captain used his command override to have the lift go straight to the level they needed to get off at.

The tension in that lift was thick enough to cut with a knife. Marcus was literally vibrating with both fear and nervousness while Neroon was a detonator ready to blow. As they stood silently in the lift, waiting for the rather long ride to end, Sheridan decided that a bit of political smoothing over of ruffled feathers was needed. Besides, he needed to calm Cole down before the Ranger died of a heart attack. Sheridan mentally snorted. After what he'd just gone through to see that the younger man lived through that day, THAT was so not happening on his watch!

"Alyt, do you even know what you almost did? Do you even care what you would have done to your people? How can you reconcile those actions and those consequences with your Warriors' code of honor?" Sheridan asked softly, then watched as Marcus relaxed slightly at his words. Apparently, the Ranger had understood the covert message meant for him in that series of questions.

Neroon's reaction was just the opposite. The Warrior's head snapped towards John, his dark eyes flashing with anger. "How dare you! What do you know of honor, Star Killer? I acted to SAVE my people!" the Warrior raged.

Sheridan shook his head sadly. "No, Alyt. You would have doomed your people. Delenn's supporters would have cared not a wit about Warriors' Challenges or Warriors' strategy. They would have only seen the death of their dreams and the ruination of their so-called Prophesy. They would have called for civil war, and their call would have been answered. Marcus's death and your dishonor would have been for nothing. You would have been dead the minute you struck Delenn down and your world would have burned at the hands of your brothers and sisters. But worst of all, YOU would have single handedly handed the Shadows their victory, for both our races are needed to win this war."

"You know nothing of my people! You…" Neroon raged again and Sheridan cut him off with a jab of the PPG to the Minbari's back.

"I DO know your people, Neroon! I know how they think. I know what they feel. I know what they believe. I KNOW your people!" Sheridan ground out. The Captain then tamped down his anger and went on. "Alyt, the first tenant of a Human Warrior is, "Know thy enemy". I am a Warrior as much as you are, Neroon. No matter what the politicians and diplomats say, your people have been my enemy for over a decade. Therefore, I KNOW your people, your whole people, not just your Caste. I know your collective heart."

Neroon was stunned, enraged yes, but still stunned. None of the codes and bylaws of Earth Force that his Caste had studied had ever used such terms. The Earth Force documents had been seen by the Caste as nothing more than political gobbledygook. These terms, on the other hand, made sense. They were at the core of what the Warrior Caste leadership was taught. The Star Rider had never heard of such philosophies being applied by Humans. He surreptitiously glanced at the Human Ranger standing beside him, wondering if he as well espoused those philosophies and whether they had factored into his decision to Challenge him to den'shah (duel to the death).

Logic would dictate it to be true, for once a Warrior Challenged another to den'shah, neither could never walk away or their honor would be forfeit. The understanding of why the Ranger employed such a tactic flickered in the Warrior's eyes, and the watching Ranger acknowledged the truth of it with a slight nod. Somber green Human eyes bore into the Minbari's dark ones before the Human that Star Killer called Cole began to speak.

"It is the underlying tenant of, "The Art of War". This is an ancient Human treatise written on the subject of warfare. It was written by Sun Tzu, who is acknowledged by the Human history as one of our greatest military philosophers. I believe that the complete quote is:

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

"So yes, Neroon, I do know the philosophy and it did factor into the Challenge, and yes, it was a delaying tactic. I am a foot soldier in this war. I am expendable and I know that. I also know enough about tactics to know when to lay down my life for the cause that is worth it. Even if that cause is just a symbol," Marcus Cole snorted then. He went on in a sardonic tone, "Rangers say, "We live for the One, we die for the One." We Human Rangers have added an addendum to that saying. It's, "But we don't die stupidly." For us, understanding IS necessary since we see ourselves primarily as intelligence operatives. Therefore, we take only that what is useful from the Anla'shok (Ranger) training and dump the rest. After all, an intelligence operative shouldn't be too bothered by something as pesky as a set of scruples, should they?"

It took a while for the stunned Warrior to truly process all that Marcus Cole had said. Finally, he asked, "And the Religious Caste just stand back and allow this travesty?"

Now both Humans smirked quite evilly as the Ranger explained, "We Human Rangers have another saying as well. It's, "What the Priests don't know won't hurt them." Oh, but you'd be surprised how easy it is to get out of all that ceremonial claptrap if you're Human. It's amazing to know just how "allergic" our poor little alien systems are to all that incense and smoke," Cole chuckled before adding, "And that's without mentioning those poisonous drinks and fruits. Why, it's ever so much safer for us poor little things to just leave early before our weak little bodies expire!"

Neroon chuckled in spite of himself. He knew that he should be incensed. What the Human had said had shown such disdain for the religion of his race. Yet, he could not blame the Human. As a Warrior, he could relate to the Humans' exasperation to the overdone Ritual of the Religious Caste.

"You do not hold to the Religious ways, and yet you were willing to die for a Priestess. One who has no understanding of the ways of war, nor does she have the heart to direct battle," he commented.

Marcus Cole shook his head in denial. "No, Neroon. I was willing to die for my Entil'Zha (One Who Leads), for Sinclair. I was willing to die for our – the Ranger's – once and forever Enti'Zha, Valen. (Marcus conveniently left out the fact that they were one in the same man.) Delenn was Sinclair's choice as successor. Delenn is also the one that all those Religious leaders and their Worker Caste followers believe is the figure of Valen's Prophecy. Don't you see, Neroon? Delenn must take the mantle of Entil'Zha or there will be no support for the Rangers from the Religious and Worker Castes," Marcus pleaded.

Neroon snorted with derision at that statement. "I told Sinclair that allowing the Worker Caste to join the Anla'Shok would cause trouble, but did that Human listen? Of course not! This problem you now face is of your leadership's own making, Ranger. Had Sinclair and the Anla'Shok Sechs (drill and instruction Masters) listened to our wisdom then, you would not be facing this stupidity now. Your attempts to block my actions are just as imprudent, Human. Star Killer's need to protect his woman (It was amazing just how much loathing and disgust Neroon was able to put into that one word.), I can understand, even if I cannot understand his taste, or Delenn's for that matter. But you, a Ranger, should be more concerned with the effectiveness of your comrades in the coming war with the Ancient Enemy."

Marcus opened his mouth to answer when John's laugh cut him off. The cold, heartless laugh sent shivers down the spine of both Ranger and Warrior alike. Marcus turned his eyes to his superior officer in dread.

"What makes you think that Delenn will be the one giving orders, Neroon?" Sheridan asked, voice dripping with disdain.

Neroon's eyes narrowed as he took in Sheridan's icy demeanor. The Warrior was beginning to hate Star Killer for two new reasons now; ruthlessness and dishonorable cunning the Human already had, but now Neroon added cold intelligence and truly lethal practicality to the list. The Warrior wondered if Delenn even knew what she'd gotten herself into with this Human Warrior.

Neroon's instincts were screaming at him that he would absolutely HATE the direction the discussion was taking. Yet, he still felt to need to answer, "Both you and this youth who calls himself a Ranger have interfered with my right to Challenge Delenn's fitness to stand as Entil'Zha. It stands to reason that she will be elevated since I am now too late to stop it. Hence, as Entil'Zha, Delenn will be the Commander of the Anla'Shok. Therefore, she will be giving the orders, as you say."

Sheridan shook his head at that answer. His eyes were dead and his face was as cold as his voice as he replied, "You couldn't be more wrong there, Neroon. Oh, she'll hold the title but not the power if I have anything to say about it. Tell me, Satai," both the Humans watched the horror finally dawn on the Minbari's face as the Warrior realized just how good Sheridan's intelligence on the Minbari was, "tell me why would a Human man that is hated by the entire Minbari people take a Minbari woman to his bed, especially the woman that he knows was directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of millions of his race, and more recently, the death of his wife?"

Marcus gasped in horror while Neroon went silent in shock. "Captain…" Marcus tried to ask and wasn't able to finish the question, his face a picture of horrified grief.

Sheridan's face softened when he realized that Marcus had never known the extent of Delenn's sins. "She was the deciding vote when it came to the War, Marcus. And it was her direct order that made it a war of genocide," he explained softly. Sheridan watched the tears well in the eyes of the already traumatized and suicidal younger man and tried to soften the blow. "She repented in the end, and tried to end the War, but by then it was too late. Marcus, was your clearance high enough to have worked on setting up "Operation Hail Mary Pass"?" the Captain asked while surreptitiously watching the Warrior's reactions to the conversation.

Marcus nodded dumbly, and Sheridan went on, "I was sent to meet with her representative, but thanks to Londo's idiocy, which he's doesn't know I know about, that Priest died. Long story short, I was taken to meet with her then." John shook his head again and snorted at the memory. "They brought me in bound, blindfolded and muffled, or so they thought."

Marcus looked confused for a moment before understanding dawned and he began to laugh. Marcus laughed until new tears flowed from his eyes. This time though, they were tears of mirth and John knew that he had at least taken the younger man's mind of his "idol's" perfidy.

"Of course! How could I forget? The old Sharlin (Minbari War Cruiser) designs! Even their internal walls and decking are made of polycrystalline materials. The voices would have reverberated through it and the sound deadening force field around you would have acted as an old radio tube, directing the vibrations upwards toward you! Oh God, John, it's a wonder that you didn't come out of there deaf!" Marcus gasped out when he was finally done laughing.

This time John chuckled in true humor, both at Marcus's quite astute question and at the look of shock on Neroon's face. "I almost did go deaf from the screaming match between Delenn and the Warrior Satias. But since it was crunch time, I managed to pull off my first Academy caliber performance and they all thought that I hadn't heard a thing. Anyway, long story short, the meeting was a bust and G'Kar and I got out of there by the skins of our teeth."

John now turned his attention to Neroon. "Well, Satai, do you really think that I would let someone so incompetent that they wouldn't even take the physical properties of their own ship into account when setting up a meeting with their sworn enemy lead the Rangers? Do I look like that much of an idiot to you? Do I look like the kind of Commanding Officer that would let someone that had ordered the genocide of an entire species take true control of the largest paramilitary organization in known space?"

By this time the lift had come to stop, yet not one of the men moved to exit it. Sheridan even punched in the security code to have it remain closed as Neroon shook his head as if to clear it. Everything that had been said had been an almost unbelievable as well as an unwelcome surprise to the Warrior. Neroon growled low in his throat. If anything proved that Delenn was unfit to lead, it was this story if it was proven true. Unfortunately, Neroon was certain that it easily was. How could Delenn have been so stupid? It's miracle that… That's when the truly shocking revelation hit him. The Humans had deciphered Lenn'ah (the Warrior Caste language) long before the Caste had been forced to give it to them!

Again Sheridan chuckled at the expense of the Minbari. "Let me just say it again; ships made entirely of polycrystalline materials that act as radio transmitters. Your stealth blocks tachyon signals, not radio signals. And unlike you, Humans don't "dump" archaic technology. Hell, we always seem to need to resurrect it when things go south. Not to mention the fact that the EA Astronomical Association still uses radio telescopes for deep space studies."

Both Humans burst out in gales of laughter then. It felt good to finally be able to stick it, and stick it but good, to the species and Caste that had butchered so many of their own. And it felt absolutely WONDERFUL knowing that there was absolutely nothing that the Minbari could do about their massive intelligence leak. Nor could they do anything about it for at least a decade. They couldn't scrap the entire fleet nor did the Minbari have the time or the dock capacity to line their ships with muffling materials now. They were both also imagining the mad scramble that the Warrior and Worker Castes were going to be in after the Shadows were beaten, IF they were beaten, to correct the problem.

What was even worse than the Humans' laughter for the now apoplectic Satai was that he knew this, and he also knew something the Humans didn't. He knew that the Minbari economy could not afford such a massive refit now, or for that matter, any time in the near future. It would be A GREAT MANY DECADES before the problem could truly be fixed. The only consolation, small though it was, that he had was knowing that the new Sharlins and support ships had internal walls, decking and nonessential systems that were not polycrystalline based throughout them. These materials could hopefully act as muffling devices. The Caste, himself included, had screamed bloody murder when the Grey Council had introduced those materials as a "cost cutting" measure. Now Neroon knew that it would be a lifesaver.

Marcus was still chuckling as he added, "Bloody hell, Neroon, your entire freaking fleet is a radio soap opera for the boys in the Space Agency and EFI!" The Ranger's expression turned quite mischievous as he added, "By the way, did your buddy Serhann ever have that rash looked at?"

Neroon looked at the Ranger as if the Human was insane for about a minute before the memory hit him. "Valen! That was right at the beginning of the war with Earth! You Humans knew our dialect that long?" he gasped out while flushing at the memory of just "where" that rash had been located on Serhann.

Marcus inclined his head in acknowledgment. "Yes, Neroon. I was on the decryption team," Marcus then blushed as he added, "I've been told that I have a bit of a gift for languages."

Neroon just shook his head again, not knowing what to say. The Warrior's head hung in shame as he weakly leaned against the still sealed doors of the lift for support. The knowledge that Humanity had known almost everything that was done by his Caste was both humiliating and terrifying. His people's arrogance in forgetting about something as simple as radio transmitters could lead to their downfall. Then Neroon's head suddenly shot up, his completion going white as the truth hit him.

"Ra'sh ta'al Quith! (God damn it)!" Neroon swore bitterly, seeing the death of his entire species due to the hubris involved in their ships' designs.

Sheridan nodded sagely as he saw that Neroon understood. "Yes, that's it exactly. Until now, it was safe for you to not know, but now with that bastard Clark in control of the EA and with the rumors of his involvement with the Shadows, you need to know. Whether we fix this mess between the Rangers and the Warrior Caste or not, I'll still give you the coordinates of the EA listening posts that I know of. Marcus here can probably get you a more complete list. Since radio signals travel at light speed, your fleet has to stay out of their immediate receiving range or we're all screwed," Sheridan said.

Neroon could do nothing more than nod in acceptance. He knew that Star Killer was not doing this out of the goodness of his heart but was acting to protect his people and Command from the Shadows. He also knew that he was now indebted to the Human that he hated with his entire being. Neroon gritted his teeth as the nausea and impotent rage hit him. The Warrior did not need to be told the price for the locations of the Earth listening posts, he knew it and knew that Star Killer was aware of his knowledge.

"You have my word as a Warrior, Star Killer, I will support that idiot Priestess as Entil'Zha in return for the COMPLETE list of those listening posts," Neroon ground out, barely getting the words past the bitter gall choking his throat.

Sheridan nodded in accord. "And you have my word as a Warrior, you'll get as complete a list as Marcus and I can put together. You must also know this, Neroon, Humanity never wanted the War or Dukhat's death. We don't want a war with you now. Clark and his ilk don't speak for the majority. And the majority will take care of the Clark issue very, very soon. He's made way too many enemies," the Captain added, thinking of just WHO those enemies were.

"But, Neroon, if your Caste uses the information I've given you as an excuse to restart the War after the Shadows are dealt with, you'd better believe that this time we would either wipe you out or take you with us. Last time you had the luxury of time on your hands. You hit us hard and fast, faster than we could adapt our tech to fighting you. By the time we'd figured out your language and then how to fight you, it was already too late. This time you won't have that luxury," the Captain said.

When he saw the Warrior's disbelieving countenance, he added, "I'm not bragging when I say that Humanity is the fastest race when it comes to adapting, Neroon. And as much as the League and the Federation hate to admit it, you all know it to be true. Think about it, with what you know of our space faring history alone, do you really think that you would have walked all over us like that if we had been able to hold you back long enough to refit our ships to fight you?"

Neroon's jaw tightened and his expression turned stony at the Human's words. "Walk all over them" the Human said. It had taken the Caste four Standard years, FOUR STANDARD YEARS, to reach Earth, an astronomically speaking, close neighbor of a planet. Yes, the Humans had been at a great disadvantage in space, but their style of ground warfare had been brutal and extremely costly to the Minbari in both lives and equipment. The war with Earth had been brutal on both sides, but with the Humans losing less of their fighting forces by percentage than the Minbari.

Neroon felt the old grief well up again. So many of his brother and sisters in arms had died in that war, so many Warrior Family Lines would die out now due to having no true heir. The Caste was now a mere shadow, a ghost of what it had been before the war with Earth. And all of this was yet another reason why he loathed Delenn as much as he loathed the Human she spread her legs for.

And again, with all of that, the Humans still had the audacity to say that they had been "walked all over"? Neroon didn't want to think about just how ugly the war would have been if the battlefields had been more "level" in space. The Warrior's gut clenched at the thought of just how costly the war could have been for his Caste if the Humans had had the "time" that Star Killer had said they needed to mount a proper defense.

When Neroon could finally get his tightened jaw to work, he replied with, "I understand. My allies on the Caste Council and I will do what we can to forge a proper alliance with the Rangers and Babylon 5. But know that we have our own "Clark issue". Shakiri will not be pleased with any of what has taken place this day."

Sheridan leveled those horrifying and completely dead eyes of his on the Warrior then. "Shakiri will either play ball or he won't be an issue," was all he said before nodding to Marcus.

"What…" Neroon began to say before being cut off by the Ranger.

"Yes, sir. Shakiri won't be an issue," was the Ranger's equally cold, flat response.

Neroon looked at the Human Ranger then, and a chill ran down his spine. If anything, the young Human's green eyes were even colder and more "dead" than Star Killer's. The Warrior swallowed hard. This was no idealistic youth playing the hero. This was a natural predator, a cold-blooded killer who didn't care in what manor its prey was taken down. "Honor" was NOT a word it understood. And this was the… the thing that he had been ready to fight in a den'shah Challenge? Neroon now wondered if he would have left that filthy corridor alive.

"You're right, of course. Shakiri will not be a problem, nor will any of the Wind Swords," Neroon calmly agreed while making a mental note to procure the proper funeral offerings in advance for Shakiri's widow. He would need them when he and the other Caste Leaders escorted her to her mala's (spouse's) ritual cremation after his "unexpected and tragically accidental" death.

Sheridan gave a very nonchalant nod of acceptance. "Of course. Oh, and Neroon, Levy's no longer in office, and that means that if the Wind Swords use the shit that their pet Death Walker cooked up, we'll return the favor. Levy was the only one in Earth Dome squeamish about bio-weapons during the War. And after surviving it, the people in there now will do what ever it takes to make sure Humanity never faces an end like that again," Sheridan warned. "Now, lets get out of this lift and get to the ceremony. We should be able to make it before it ends."

All three men then nodded and tried to get themselves mentally for the meeting with Delenn that was coming. The entire experience since their collective meeting in Down-Below had been emotionally, physically and psychologically draining, and they all needed to recharge their batteries since all three knew that they would have to pull off one humdinger of a snow job as soon as Delenn spoke to Neroon. Then, by unspoken agreement, they made to exit the lift. As they exited the lift and fought through the irate crowd that had been waiting for it, Marcus remembered something that the Captain had said earlier.

"Sir?" he pensively asked as they walked towards the hall where the ceremony was being held.

"Yes, Marcus?" Sheridan replied.

"You said… you said that Amb… Satai Delenn was responsible for your wife's death. I'm sorry for being nosy and probably impertinent, not to mention for bringing up a painful subject, but what did you mean by that?" Marcus asked in his nervously rambling way.

Neroon's attention perked up at that question. He had heard that tidbit of information and his curiosity had been piqued as well. The Warrior hoped that Star Killer would answer.

The Captain sighed sadly before answering, "You know what pisses me off about the listening posts the most, Marcus?"

"No, sir," the Ranger answered softly.

"The information we get is based on what is said, and unfortunately for us, the damned Shadow's home world and their true species name are never used by the Minbari in regular conversation. And even if they are referred to in strategy councils the bone… sorry Neroon, no offense meant, even if they are referred to, it's always with euphemisms such as "our most Ancient Enemy" and "Cradle of Darkness". And of course, location coordinates are NEVER given," John replied acidly.

Marcus and Neroon were now both confused and the Ranger said as much, "Again, I'm sorry sir, but what does that have to do with you wife's death?"

They'd reached the closed hall doors as Sheridan answered. "Zha'Ha'Dum, that's the Minbari name for the Shadows home world. That's where Anna's IPX expedition went. And the damned Vorlons and Minbari knew about it and said nothing! No cryptic warning to stay away, nothing! Nothing but silence!" Sheridan choked out past his pain and rage.

Both the Ranger and the Warrior looked at the Captain with sympathy at that point. They both knew that he was telling the truth. One knew because he knew that Sheridan had access to a spy network second to none, the other because nothing that Sheridan said could surprise him anymore. And they both knew that neither of them could have left Delenn alive, let alone forgive her as Sheridan seemed to have done, if they had been in the Captain's shoes.

"They knew, Marcus. SHE knew and said nothing. She could have clandestinely passed on SOME kind of warning and didn't. That whole crew died for nothing! And my Anna with them," Sheridan finished in a horrified voice, pain and grief written in every line of his body.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the three men again composed themselves after that revelation. Right before they walked in, Neroon's curiosity got the better of him and he had to ask, "Then how can you forgive her, Sta… Captain Sheridan?"

Sheridan turned his once again dead eyes to the Warrior. "I haven't," he answered.

Neroon looked pole-axed at that simple statement. "Then how… how in the name of all that you hold Holy can you bed that frigid, conniving little fool?" the Warrior blurted out, too stunned to control his tongue.

Sheridan smiled bitterly as he said, "I do what I have to in order to safeguard Humanity, Neroon, even if that means whoring myself out. And who do you think could control Delenn better than a lover? Neroon, you must remember that Dukhat had her wrapped around his pinkie. She blindly did everything he asked simply because of her crush on him. Now, you tell me, what would a woman like that do for an actual lover? Add in a good dose of guilt over what she's responsible for and you got the recipe for the perfect puppet. Well, a perfect puppet as soon as I de-claw her little Priestling."

Neroon shook his head again at Delenn's weakness and stupidity. It seemed that all of the Priestess's conniving and machinations had been for naught. The Warrior couldn't help but chuckle at the irony. The Mistress of Minbari Manipulation had been out manipulated herself! Neroon chuckled again as he realized that he'd been deflected. Then the last part of Sheridan's answer was processed by his overwhelmed synapses.

Apperently so had the Ranger's. Marcus gasped and stuttered out, "You know?" to which Sheridan simply shrugged and nodded.

The Warrior watched the byplay before starting to speculate out loud. "Priestling? What… Ah. I see," Neroon said with a triumphant look in his eye.

The Warrior finally had a card to play in this game, and this time it wouldn't involve procuring funeral offerings for the deceased's family if he could help it. After all, Minbari did not kill Minbari. A small part of Neroon wondered why he had felt no remorse in planning on breaking that Ban with Delenn and why he did not feel any need to warn Shakiri.

Neroon shook off that tiny voice and offered his help. "Perhaps I can be of some assistance here, Captain. As you Humans say, "One good turn deserves another." Now, I believe that you know of Delenn's mother belonging to the Order of Valaria?"

When Sheridan nodded, Neroon went on, "So does mine, Captain, and she is the head of her cloister. Also, since Mother was called to the Order from the Warrior Caste she has a, shall we say, a "more expansive" view of the prohibition on staying in contact with one's family."

All three men chuckled at that statement before Neroon added, "Now imagine how "honored" the young one's Fane would be if the head of an Order cloister asked that he be assigned as their liaison to the rest of the Religious Caste. I would imagine that they would make sure that he made the "proper" decision to ask to be released from his vows of obedience to the "politically powerful" but "morally and physically corrupt" Delenn," he finished, smirking quite smugly.

Sheridan and Marcus shared a positively evil look. "Why Neroon, you are such a kind hearted man to see to the career of a lowly diplomatic aide. I'm sure that the Third Fane of Chudomo will be properly grateful," the Captain drawled out to Marcus's snickers.

Neroon gave a formal Minbari bow as his answer. He was the picture of a "proper" Minbari leader, such a shining example of living to serve one's people. The patently false humility sent the two Humans into a round of hysterics that they were barely able to choke down.

As the Captain and Ranger recovered from their quiet laughter, Neroon's mind went back to his original, if impertinent, question. Sheridan's statement and Marcus's reaction to it had given Neroon a great many answers, yet it still didn't answer the original question. He shot Sheridan a speculative look.

Sheridan smirked, knowing that Neroon hadn't been put off. "You and Cole here will be working on that list of listening posts real soon. Ask Marcus what the term "beer goggles" means sometime," he replied before pasting a proud and sickeningly infatuated look on his face and walking into the hall.

The End.