United [A Superhero AU] - Book Two

Chapter Thirty-Nine - Confrontation

"I think we've done a lot of good work today," Matthias says, gathering his papers and forming them into a neat stack. "This meeting is over. Gunner, you can help me over in my office."

Gunner nods and the rebels, heroes, and villain disperse among the base. Mark and Jack move to the couch and pick a show on TV before settling against each other in comfortable silence. After only a few minutes, Mark's phone goes off. Jack groans and snuggles deeper into him as the hero awkwardly wrestles the device from his pocket.

"You're making this difficult, Jack," Mark says, although his tone is nothing but loving. He kisses the top of his head and answers the call, pressing it to his ear.

"Hello?" Mark says. The person on the other end speaks and Mark's eyebrows furrow. "Okay. I'll hand you over to him."

"Who is it?" Jack asks, taking the phone from the hero.

"It's Matthew."

The villain bites his lip, pulling himself away from Mark and moving down the hallway. He chews at his thumbnail as he leans against the wall. "Matthew, what's up?"

The villain on the other end of the phone sighs heavily, his voice a whisper. "We've had a pretty rough couple of days over here, Jack. Those kids that Mr. Vincent was going to bring arrived, and Cry let them go home."

"That's a good thing, isn't it? And why are you whispering?"

"Yeah, but Mr. Vincent found out. Cry got beaten to a pulp in my place. I don't want to wake him up because he already had a hard enough time falling asleep."

"God..." Jack breathes. "Should I come back? Do you need me over there? I'm... I'm just so sorry that I left you guys alone to suffer like that."

"You are helping us. The more information you give the heroes, the closer they get to liberating San Francisco and getting rid of the NAI. We need the outside assistance. With Mr. Vincent beating Cry down every time he feels strong enough to speak for himself, we'll never get anywhere unless we have heroes to help us," Matthew replies.  "I just wanted to let you know so you don't come back and get shocked by the fact that Cry is covered in bruises again."

Jack exhales heavily and rubs his eyes. "Okay. Take care of him, Matthew, and call me if anything else happens."

"I will. See you later, Jack."

The Irishman hangs up the phone, his eyes slipping shut as he sighs. He tucks the phone into his pocket, and as he steps away from the wall he's immediately shoved back, nearly winding him. His instinct to run kicks in, but he doesn't escape due to the cool metal of a gun pressed to his temple. Red's face is inches from his, her green eyes hard and cold. Her arm presses against his throat, holding him in place and hindering his ability to breathe normally.

"Leave me alone, Red," he demands, his voice strained as he glares at her.

"If you didn't have Mark around to protect you, you would be dead already," she snarls. "If the others weren't standing up for you, I would have ended you by now."

"I know." He shifts, attempting to alleviate the pressure on his throat, and the gun is pressed harder against his head. His fingers fidget, his body screaming at him to run as his heart starts to pound in his ears. "I don't want to fight and I don't want to hurt you."

"Too late. The damage is already done."

"Red, back off." His hands start to shake worse, his chest rising and falling irregularly. She presses harder against his throat and he chokes for air. Don't panic, Jack. Don't panic. He tries to speak, but it comes out as a strangled gasp. He wants to move so badly, to save himself, but his growing anxiety keeps him in place.

"Red!"

Jack doesn't dare look in the direction of the voice, although he can already tell who it is. He shuts his eyes for a moment, thanking the Lord that Mark found them. The girl turns in his direction, her eyes widening slightly as she reluctantly lowers her arm and gun. Jack slumps against the wall, coughing and gasping for air. Mark's eyes, stern and cold, never stray from Red.

"What the hell were you doing?" he demands. Red doesn't answer, her arms crossed over her chest and her glare like daggers. Mark clenches his jaw. "Get away from him.  If I ever see you threatening him again, you will not be allowed in the base."

She remains silent as she sends one more glare towards Jack and strides down the hallway. The villain rubs his throat, coughing a few more times before managing to straighten up. Mark approaches him and grabs his shoulders gently.

"Are you okay?" he whispers, the cold demeanour breaking away to reveal the worry swimming in his eyes.

"I'll be fine," Jack replies just as softly. He avoids Mark's eyes, his heart still thumping in his ears. "I couldn't move, Mark. I... I panicked. I thought... I thought I could stand my ground, but I can't. I just... hung up and then she was there, and I couldn't even think..."

"Jack, it's not your fault," the hero states, tilting his head so that the villain is looking at him. "There's a reason for your anxiety." He smiles weakly. "We'll work on it, okay? I told you I would protect you."

Jack nods, covering his face with his hands and exhaling shakily. Mark moves his hands gently and kisses his temple before pulling him into a hug.

"Let's go, okay? I think being alone would be good right now," Jack murmurs against his shoulder.

Mark nods and takes his hand, maintaining a weak smile for the villain's sake. They escape to their room, climbing onto their bed and wrapping themselves in each other's arms. Jack puts Mark's phone on the side table before tucking into him with a satisfied sigh.

"What was the phone call about?" Mark asks, rubbing circles into the villain's back.

"It's bad over at the NAI. Really bad. We need help because Cry's will to fight is consistently beaten out of him," Jack replies.

"That's what happened? He got beaten up? I thought the boss was dead."

"It was Mr. Vincent."

"Oh." Mark exhales heavily and nuzzles into Jack's neck, pressing gentle kisses to the skin there. "We're gonna do the best we can to free them and I'm going to keep protecting you no matter what."

"Thank you," Jack whispers.

Mark smiles against his neck. "You're welcome."