"why don't you just meet us for dinner?" she suggested quietly to him as she stood up. Hugging him tightly she whispered in his ear. "I love you" she didn't want to leave him, especially after what they had just done, but she knew it would be best if she went ahead and left. "Stay out of trouble kids." she teased to them all then made her way to the door.

Marcus smiled slightly, watching Rin go. She loved him, loved him. It felt liberating to have confessed finally how he felt for her, but the sensation that came with knowing she returned those affections was indescribable.
"Bye Nice Lady!". Called Casper from the floor, he and Kyle waving whd Chad huffed.

Rin left the room happy, with a spring in her step. She knew there was still obstacles to overcome but with Marcus backing her she knew she could do it. As she walked back to her room she realized how much she smelt like Marcus. "Damm, I better shower." she mumbled to herself. So she did just so. Once cleaned up she went to her quarters to get a quick nap.

"Look at him, he's smitten!" Grinned Chad as he rolled over and pushed Casper off.
"Awww, is little Specter gonna fall in loooove?" Crooned Casper, crawling to his feet and poking Marcus in the ribs despite the other batting him away.
"Shut up guys!" Groaned Marcus, snatching up his shirt now and pulling it on over his head. Kyle pushed Chad and Casper aside, throwing an arm around MArcus's shoulder with a fathering look on his face.
"Now, as your superior officer Marcus I feel like we should talk about the birds and the bees. See, bees are sexual deviants and, whoa what happened there!?" He thumbed Marcus's bruised jaw, a toothy grin splitting his face. "Daw did little Marcus get beat up by his girlfriend?" Marcus shrugged him off, face bright red as he stormed out the room.
"Wouldn't you like to know where I got that!" He called after them, earning a chorus of cat calls and whoops from the other three as he started for the showers. "Idiots..."

this was Marcus's second squad, his first having lost to many to remain a squad. Marcus and the other remaining soldier had been shipped off into other groups. Marcus had joined Kyle's Strike team, consisting of the four of them as specialists in recon, up close and from a distance. Their call signs all were themed, Marcus's being Specter, Kyle being Phantom, Chad was Wraith, and Casper was Ghost. They were one of a few teams built around subtlety, and despite their boisterous attitudes in the barracks they were one of the most successful strike teams in the field. Part of that due to Marcus's sniping. They were good guys all of them, but Marcus new at least Casper had some problems with stalking kills and home invasions. And he knew Kyle had nightmares almost on a regular biases. They never were discussed though, each man having his own scars and dealing with them in their own way as they worked their bloody work. At least in downtime they worked hard to make up for it.

After a quick nap she had to get up and get ready for dinner. Since she was off duty she decided to go for a more casual look. Jeans and a red tank top. After getting dressed she checked herself in the small mirror that hung in her locker. "Shit" She mumbled when she saw the hickies. Quickly she pulled out a T-shirt and changed. For once she decided to leave her hair down instead of confining it to a ponytail, braid, or bun. As she walked to the cafeteria where she was to meet Tess and John she felt her heart beat quicken and her palms become sweaty. She was nervous. It's not that she thought what her and Marcus had done was a mistake but she still had to recognize that it was cheating.

Right before she walked in she calmed herself with a few deep breaths."Hey." She said to Tess and John when she walked in. "Hey babe!" John said with a smile as he stood and hugged her. Rin tried not to tense up but couldn't help it. "You okay?" John asked. "Yeah, just a busy day." She insisted. "Aw, sorry hun." He said then leaned in to kiss her. Quickly Rin turned so that the kiss would only fall on her cheek. "Thanks" She said and sat down.

"Hey! Don't I get a hug?" Grumbled Tess, having fallen into a seat across from the other two with a huff. Propping her elbows on the table top she rested her chin in them, scowling in a not so serious manner at the other two. "Stupid love birds." She snorted, before looking around as more people entered the cafeteria.

Marcus had reconnected with hi squad for dinner, something kyle always insisted (Rather loudly) was good for team building and moral. So as a unit they stormed the cafeteria. Casper got a few calls from the other soldiers in the room, waving and calling back to some while Chad ignored others. Kyle was still walking next to Marcus, having picked up his Birds and Bees speech where he had left off and now thoroughly embarrassing the other, who's cheeks had turned bright red.
Earlier on Marcus had told them he'd prefer it if they didn't gossip about what they'd seen, saying things were a bit fragile at the moment and they were still figuring things out. The others of course had taken this as an excuse to laugh raucously and accuse Marcus of being a bad boy. But they took it seriously now, and as soon as Casper caught sight of Rin and John he elbowed Chad. Who elbowed Kyle, who stopped talking and clapped Marcus on the back rather hard.

By the time Marcus and his squad walked in Rin and the others had gotten their food and were back at their table. Rin had to force herself not to stare at Marcus. She wanted to be with him badly, but knew she couldn't right now. Instead she picked at her food and listened as John talked. He was talking about how he had made a mistake today and was worried that his CO was pissed at him. Damn it. Now I can't break up with him. He's having a bad day. I can't pile it all on him at once. Rin thought to herself. "I'm sorry. I bet it wasn't as bad as you thought. I'm sure everything will be fine." She said, trying to make him feel better.

Marcus glanced over the head of the person sitting in front of him after his squad had taken their seats, and obvious question on his face. Did she still want him to come over and eat with them? He knew she had suggested it before but he didn't want to step in at a bad time, not a fan of making a scene in the middle of a meal.
"That's her boyfriend?" Scoffed Casper into his food. "Wow, what the hell is she doing with you Specs? Id date him."
"Of course you would, you're just gonna sleep your way to the top." Chad said, and snorting when Casper stuck his tongue out at him. "Watch out Phantom the Ghost is coming for you next!"
"Ha, in his dreams." Kyle scoffed, looking pointedly at Casper. "You couldn't handle it."

Rin caught Marcus's gaze. She wanted him to come over, but at the same time she didn't know if it was a good idea. The last thing she needed was for John to get jealous, it would only make it more difficult to break it off later. And while she loved Tess as a friend she was still worried she might poke the awkward button. Hiding her disappointment as much as possible she decided not to flag Marcus over. With difficulty she continued to listen as John talked.

Marcus, getting the message, nodded briefly before turning his attention to what now had become a lengthy conversation on whether or not Casper actually would be able to handle it. Marcus voted he would not.

"So what are you two up to these days? Havent seen much of you Rin, save for check ups. And John you like live on the deck, you're never down here anymore." Tess said after finishing her main course, draining her glass of water now in one go.

Rin spent the rest of the night making small talk with John and Tess before calling it a night. As she laid in her bunk alone she thought of Marcus and all that had happened that day. It had been both the worst and the best day of her life. Slowly she balled up her hand into a fist then straightened it out again. It was sore from striking Marcus in the face. I gotta remember to apologize for that... she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

Marcus didn't sleep that night, stretched out on his bunk running over the day's events and fending off jokes and questions from his squadmates. Eventually though they all fell asleep, leaving him alone with his reflection. He had never wanted to be someone that ruined a relationship, someone elses side. But, this was Rin. And it wasn't like she was using him, she loved him and was going to break up with that guy anyways so, so maybe that made it okay?

The next day passed by uneventfully, the two both to busy to really spend much time together and Marcus was careful not to intrude whenever John was around. He couldn't help but get a bit frustrated though, no seeing any sign of the relationship ending and getting increasingly agitated over it. Kyle did his best to distract him though, sending him on errands and tasks about the ship that would keep him away from the couple.

Tess was steadily beginning to notice a change in Rin, and when they were down in the hanger together running checks over their ships after a practice flight she cornered her. "Whats up with you? You've been acting all day dreamy and distant for awhile now, you okay?" She asked, leaning against the fin of Rin's ship and folding her arms as she watched her closely.

Rin had been standing there, flight suit half unzipped and dangling around her waste, filling in note about how the training exercises went. The CAG (yes, stealing more bsg terms) had been putting her in charge of a lot of them lately. While she appreciated the responsibility it was beginning to bear down on her harder then ever. She blamed this on her situation with Marcus and John.

Being so lost in her thoughts she almost hadn't heard Tess. "hm?" she said snapping her head up. Suddenly what Tess said finally processed. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine, just a lot on my plate. William has me running all these training routines and we've got some missions coming up..." she explained. Hoping it would be enough to satisfy her curiosity.

Tess clearly wouldn't take this for an answer, shaking her head. "Nope. See, that would make you wired and jumpy. Not day dreamy. Come on you can tell me.". She prodded Rin slightly with her elbow. " is it guy troubles? Guys are dicks, just ditch whoever it is. Not worth flailing for. Oh, wait, is it John?!".

Rin glanced around to be sure no one else was close enough to hear them. She huffed and crossed her arms. "So I went and talked to Marcus the other day..." she said to get the ball rolling. "it went really badly." she answered before Tess had a chance to ask the obvious question. Then a smile started creeping it's way across her face. "But then something changed and well we admitted how we truly felt about each other and-" she paused briefly. "and we did other stuff."

Tess's eyes went wide and she leaned in with a hiss "you did stuff? Rin did you sleep with him??"

Rin could easily see the disappointment and shock. She bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah" she answered simply. "but it's not just that we slept together, we made love! And it's not just some guy, it's Marcus!" she added. She was excited but tried to keep her voice down."I love him" she stressed.

Tess made a weird noise, sounding like a scoff and a whine as she leaned back and clapped both hands over her face. Finally she emerged from behind them to drag Rin around to the other side of her ship. Here they were less likely to be overheard or seen.
"So what if it's Marcus? Youre dating JOHN! You don't get to sleep with other people even if you love them!" She snapped, huffing and popping her fists on her hips. "Not while youre dating someone else. I mean, have you even talked to John about ending things? Did you think things were ending anyways and just jumped into bed with your best buddy to speed up the process? God Rin this, this is just a mess!"

Rin shook her head and rolled her eyes when Tess went off at her. "I didn't plan it! We were there, arguing and yelling, and then I hit him and then... Then we realized we couldn't loose each other. That even something this big isn't worth loosing the person you care most about in the universe." she said harshly but then lightened through the course of it. "Marcus isn't just some person to have sex with. He's everything to me and the thought of not being with him cuts me deeper than anything else." she said in almost a pleading way to try and make Tess understand. "And no, John doesn't know anything." she mumbled.

Tess threw her arms up in despair before covering her face with them a second time. "Alright alright I get you guys love each other.". She muttered from between them before folding her arms across her chest. " stupid love stories...well is John gonna know? Cause from what you're saying I take it this isn't a one time thing."