Moon Knight Oneshots

6 Voicemails from Steven + 1 from Marc

Summary: little-cereal-draws on tumblr wrote a fic for MKtober2022 Day 2: Laters Gators that was made up of voicemails Steven made to his mother before the events of the show, and it made me wonder: what voicemails would Steven have left for his mother during each episode of the Moon Knight tv show? This fic answers that question.

Voicemail from: Steven Grant

"Hello, Mum. It's me. Just checkin' in. I got your postcard, putting it up on Gus' tank now. Yeah, it's very nice. He's fuming, though. Keeps asking why I don't take him anywhere nice. Maybe one day, right? He'd love to get out there, but it's a bit hard with one fin, innit? Anyway, Mom, all's well here. Not too bad. Still wake up every morning still feeling like I got hit by a bus. And if you..."

He pauses, and when he speaks again he's talking to someone else, his voice muffled. There's the sound of cars going by, and people bustling. It's calm, and he's okay. Then Steven's voice returns clearly, speaking to his mother again.

"Anyway, sorry I missed you, Mum. I'll try you again tomorrow. Laters, gators."

~~~

Voicemail from: Steven Grant

"Hiya Mum. Sorry I didn't call earlier, I woke up rather late today. Yeah I dunno what happened! I had the weirdest dream last night, I was in the Alps, and there was this man who did something... something weird and killed this woman? And then it got really weird, I kept missing chunks of the dream, and there was a whole thing with a cupcake van and--Agh, anyway, I just er, slept the day away yeah? I'm er... well I'm lucky I didn't miss my date! It was with Dylan, you know, the girl I told you about? Yeah, you know, I think she really liked me. She loved the flowers. Yeah. Yeah, well, I'm gonna bring her around soon, I think. Yeah, I think you'd love her. Yeah, she's got a great sense of humor. So... Anyway, I'll tell you more about it tomorrow. Love you. Laters, gators."

~~~

Voicemail from: Steven Grant

"Hey, Mum. Could you erm... just call me back, yeah? There's... there's something happening to me, I think. There's something erm... something. That dream I had, the one I told you about in the Alps? Turns out it wasn't a dream, right? Which doesn't make any sense, but listen, I saw that man at the museum yesterday, the man that killed that poor woman? He came by, and then after work... well, that's why I need you to call me back. It's really hard to explain. Yeah, I'm going to work now, just feeding Gus before I go. Or erm... whoever this is. Need to er, talk to you about that too. Anyway I better go. Call me back please? Love you, laters ga--Oh hang on, I almost forgot! Do you know anyone named Marc? Or Layla? I found a phone in my flat, I thought you might've left it here. Why you put the phone in the wall I don't know, but I found that and a storage locker key in there. So erm, yeah just, gimme a call? Please?"

~~~

Voicemail from: Steven Grant

"Mum!? Mum!? Listen, something is really really wrong, I-I can't control my body, I can't control my mind--I need help, please, I-I'm in Cairo right now, I'm in bloody Egypt, a-and I don't know when he's coming back. He could take over at any second--Shit, I... Mum I can't speak Arabic, I don't know where I am, where the airport is--god I hope the cabbie speaks English."

His breath starts to quicken, growing shallow and shaky. There's the sound of cars going by, and people bustling. It's unfamiliar, and he's scared.

"Mum this is erm... this is too much, I think. This is too much, I can barely keep my thoughts in a row, I can't do this by myself, please call me back, I just... I need some help."

He sniffs, and takes a few deep breaths.

"I erm... I hailed a cab, he's driving up now. I'll call you once I get to the airport. I don't even care how much it'll cost to call, I just... I really need to hear a familiar voice right now. Please, Mum. Call me back. Love you, laters gators."

~~~

Voicemail from: Steven Grant

"Hey, Mum. I erm... I'm still in Cairo. I... I decided to stay. God I... I have so much to tell you, Mum. There's so much that's happened. I think I might come visit you when this is over, yeah? Tell you about it all. Maybe you'll even get to meet Layla! Remember when I mentioned her? Yeah turns out that phone didn't belong to you, it was... well, that's a whole bit to tell you when I see you.

"Anyway, Layla is this woman I met, yeah? And she's just... she's something else, Mum, I mean she's just wonderful. She can read hieroglyphs, she speaks French, she loves Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, and she's so strong and beautiful and--Oh god, look at me, rambling on like a kid, heh."

There's a hesitant pause, Steven's breath catching as he considered what to say. There's no sound, and he's not okay.

"Why didn't you call me back, Mum? I'm fine now, but it's been days since then and you just... were you even worried? That I haven't called in so long? I only ever hear from you in your postcards, Mum. And you barely say anything in them anyway. I know you're afraid of tele salespeople but you should've gotten my message, you should've called me. I really needed you, Mum, and you just..."

He sighed, the second pause saying everything he needed it to.

"Anyway I better go, I'm supposed to be looking for supplies before we go into this place looking for an ushabti. Again, lots to tell you when I see you. Call me back when you can this time, please. Love you. Laters gators."

~~~

Voicemail from: Putnam Psychiatric Hospital

"Uh, hello, Mrs. Grant."

There's a short silence, where not even death's cold rattle could be heard.

"Yes, this is Dr. Harrow. Mmm-hmm. Steven's here. He'd like to speak with you. Steven, would you like to speak to your mum?"

There's the soft sounds of the phone being passed from hand to hand. It's possible to hear the sound of his tears when they fall. They make a small plink when they hit the tile floor. It doesn't make sense, but that's the only sound it could possibly be. It's the sound of horrible, deep sorrow, the sound a life makes when it loses its tether to another life. The sound a wife makes when she loses her husband. The sound a boy makes when he loses his brother. The sound a mother makes when she loses her son.

"My mum... My mum is dead."

~~~

Voicemail from: Mum

"Hey, buddy. I uh... I guess you know by now that this is, uh. This isn't Mom's phone. Never has been, to be honest. Nah, this is a phone that I had in my storage unit. I wanted you to be able to call Mom, and uh... well it was a good way to keep tabs on you too. Make sure you were okay. I listened to every one of them, Steven. And I just... I wanted to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry I kept myself hidden from you all this time. I thought I was protecting you, I thought it would make things easier, I... fuck, I don't know what I was thinking.

"There were so many times when I wanted to just... come out and tell you everything. I knew you were alone, even when you said you weren't. Knowing you were there, alive, and full of hope, like I said back in the Duat, it saved me. But you didn't know I was there. You felt alone. Even if I was there, you didn't know there was anyone looking out for you. You didn't know that anybody cared. And I shouldn't have done that to you.

"But you won't have to be alone anymore, alright buddy? We're gonna get through all this together. You, me, and whoever else is in here, alright? None of us will be alone anymore.

"Alright, I'm gonna go, we gotta get on the plane soon. Gotta get back home, see if we can get a real night's sleep for once. Love you, bud. Laters, gators."