United [A Superhero AU] - Book Two

Chapter Thirty-Two - Unfortunate Discoveries

Mark stares at the TV, seeing but not really watching. His heart feels like a lead weight in his chest and his bones feel too heavy to carry around, so he just lies there. Instead of burying the heartache and guilt, he lets it out and wallows in it, allowing himself to feel every awful pang. It sucks, but he can't keep up the facade of happiness anymore. Telling Felix about it made him feel a little better, but not enough to fill the emptiness in his heart. Jack could be starving himself of food and sleep right now and Mark won't know or be able to help. That thought alone only serves to worsen the horrendous guilt that gnaws away at him. Three days is a long time to go without Jack.

Matthias enters the room, pausing when he sees Mark clutching a pillow to his chest and staring at the TV with vacant eyes. A long sigh escapes his lips and he kneels down in front of him so the two heroes are at eye level.

"Mark, you should probably stop moping and get ready to leave. We're going on patrol," Matthias says.

"What's the point, Matthias? Curatrix is obsolete and the citizens don't really trust us anymore." Mark curls up a bit tighter, his eyes burning with the threat of tears. He's so tired of crying. "And besides, there's no one left to fight."

"There are still a ton of NAI supporters out there as well as the villains, although I know you don't want to fight them.  On top of that, the rebels are coming over so we can get better at fighting in units. Would it make you feel better if you kicked some ass?"

Mark exhales heavily and nods, pulling himself upright and putting his pillow down. Matthias smiles and helps him off the couch before heading to the kitchen, leaving Mark to move to his room and get changed into his suit. The moment he's done, the groups head out.

As Mark trails after Felix and Hudson, he finds himself hoping to see the villains more and more. If he sees Jack, he can either confirm or dash his fears of the Irishman not taking care of himself. If he sees him, he can pull him away and apologize and convince him to come back.

Hudson and Felix's call startles him back into the present. Ahead of them, Cry, Matthew, and Jack freeze in their tracks, their eyes locked on the heroes and rebel. Jack finds Mark instantly and the hero nearly cries. It's Jack. He's right there, looking sleep-deprived but not totally dead yet. He mouths Mark's name and the hero resists every urge to just run to him and kiss him senseless.

"Jack is a villain!?" Hudson exclaims, staring at Mark and Felix. "That's really cool but also terrifying. We should definitely not let Red see him..."

Mark can only stare at Jack, his heart bursting at the seams and shattering at the same time. He wants to run to him, but his feet are glued to the ground. His fears have been partially confirmed. He definitely hasn't been sleeping (neither has Mark, for that matter), but he has no idea whether he's been taking care of himself otherwise.

"There's the villains!" someone yells, completely derailing his thoughts and causing him to startle in place. Red charges past, firing bullets at the three villains and making them scatter. Jack locks eyes with Mark one more time before sprinting away, his hands balled into fists. Felix and Hudson rush into the escalating fight just as Matthias' voice crackles through his earpiece.

"Mark, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah, I can," Mark replies, his voice coming out as a squeak.

"I'm talking to you and only you here. Now, this is gonna sound weird coming from me, but you have to protect Jack. He's too valuable for us to lose."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

Mark glances around the street, finally locating Jack locked in combat with Red. Her gun is sitting a ways away on the pavement thankfully, but she's unfortunately good at fist fighting. Jack barely manages to dodge a blow to the face before countering, only to get blocked. Felix and Cry hold each other back pretty evenly, and Hudson is clearly losing against Matthew.