When It Mattered Most

WHO Is That?

Mark stepped out of the bathroom, seeing his younger self sitting at the table looking like a lost puppy. He wasn't sure what to do with him. It was strange, he felt almost... annoyed... by the boy. It reminded him deeply of when he and Ethan visited that hypnotherapist. He knew that he hadn't done anything wrong, but...

Shaking the thought away, Mark walked into the kitchen, intent on making breakfast. The younger followed him in, standing awkwardly. Taking some eggs from the fridge, Mark turned to the other, "I have some time before I have to get to work, and I was wondering if I could ask you a few more questions. Just so I can get an idea as to why you're here."

"Sure."

Mark turned his back, focusing on the pan. "What was the last date you remember? What was going on?"

There was a beat, "It was January twenty-third, 2012. I had the surgery, I broke up with Abigail*, I got laid off my job. I just don't know what I'm supposed to be doing right now. I know that I'm only a away from my degree, but I don't know if that's what I'm supposed to be doing right now...."

He sounded as lost as he looked. Mark remembered how it was during that time. Life was a nightmare. He could've done so much more than he did back then. Mark wasn't sure if he could say anything to Markle Sparkle back there, but he really wanted to. Did he already say too much?

Mark decided to hold off from giving any more information to him. Better to be safe than sorry. Besides, if there was anything that Mark was sure about, it was that he would not have ended up the man that he was today if he hadn't faced it on his own. An outline of what his life was going to be like would only hinder him in the long run.

He took the eggs off the pan and on three plates. This was him from before even YouTube. Damn, Markle is younger than Ethan right now. Shaking his head, he placed a plate in front of the boy, then turned to get the hot sauce from the fridge.

He offered it to Markle, who gave him a weird look. Taking off his mask, Mark added copious amounts of hot sauce to his eggs, "Trust me, once you try it, you'll never go back."

Sighing, Markle accepted it, taking off his own mask. He added a piteous amount to his eggs, but after a bite, drenched the eggs as he should have in the first place.

After a few more bites Markle asked, "Who's the third plate for?"

Before Mark could answer, Amy stepped into the room, in all her glory. Markle, unable to see through the back of his head, simply looked expectantly at Mark.

"I could ask the same thing to you," Amy looked suspicious, and Mark could only flounder helplessly beneath her gaze.

Startled, Markle jumped around. Quick to defuse the situation, Mark leapt between them, intent on making sure that Amy wouldn't get upset, "Hey Amy! So, you know me, right?"

Amy folded her arms and gave him a look.

Mark raised his arms in defense, "Of course you do, you're Amy. Well, this," Mark gestured to Markle, "is me."

Before Mark could get another word in, Amy silenced him with a look. "Mark. Bedroom. Now." Amy turned to Markle and reassured him, "Don't worry, we'll be right back."

Mark leapt to do as she said, already half sure he was in the metaphorical doghouse now. Amy closed the door behind them.

"Mark, you had better tell me right now what the hell is going on!" Amy whisper yelled.

"Okay, okay," Mark raised his hands trying to placate her, "So I was just going through my daily routine, right?"

Amy looked at him impatiently.

"Well, I was feeding Chica and Henry when Chica ran to the front door. I went to check what she was barking at, and there was a man in front of the house looking at our car. I was going to go out and ask why he was outside; he didn't have a mask on or anything. After I asked him about it, he said that he was from the past, and I was like, you gotta be joshing me, right? But then I noticed that he looked literally exactly like me from eight years ago. He clearly didn't know who I was, but I had him come inside. Don't worry, he's clean! He took a shower and I lent him some of my clothes! I asked him what his name was, and he said my name. I told him that I was him, and that we're in a pandemic. I made breakfast. That's all that happened, trust me."

Amy sighed, and almost rubbed her forehead before stopping herself, "Why can't our lives be normal?"

Mark smiled, and put his hand on her shoulder, "If our lives were normal, they wouldn't be any fun."

Amy laughed, and Mark counted it as a success. "You're not wrong."

Mark bit his lip, "Listen, we can't tell him anything about the future." Amy opened her mouth, about to interject, "I know, but he was going to find about the virus either way. We can't let him go outside and risk possibly bringing it back to his time when we get him back to his time."

Amy nodded, "How are we going to do that anyway? Do you even know how he got here in the first place?"

Mark shook his head, "No, but I haven't asked him about it yet."

"Well, we can't keep him waiting forever." She nudged Mark with her elbow.

"True that." They walked back out of the room together. Mark saw Markle leaning against the counter with his mask on, the dish was clean in the sink. He was tapping his foot, clearly waiting for them."

Amy stepped forward with her breathtaking smile, "Hi, I'm Amy." Their gloved hands shook. Amy turned and picked up her still warm eggs, "It's nice to meet you, Mark' told me all about you."

Markle looked even more nervous than before, "All good things, I hope?"

Amy smiled softly, "You'd be surprised."

Seeing Markle try to wrap his head around that, Mark stepped forward. "Amy's my girlfriend. I would never have gotten as far as I have without her."

Amy swatted at him playfully, "Please, you know that's not true. You'd never let anything stop you from your work."

Mark smiled adoringly at her, "Even so, I'd never dream of doing it without you."

Interrupting their moment, Amy turned to Markle, who was looking uncomfortable. "But that's besides the point. Mark, do you have any idea how you got here? At this time, I mean."

Looking helpless, Markle shook his head. "I have no idea. I went to bed last night the same as I always do, but I woke up in a park down the street. I don't know what happened. I tried calling people on my phone, but it died."

Amy nodded, and they all took in the information. Another alarm went off on Mark's phone, he had to get to work.

Amy, noting what time it was, asked, "You gotta go?"

Mark put his plate in the sink, "Yeah, I'm doing a thing with the others today."

Markle was clearly curious, but understanding precisely what he meant, Amy said, "Don't worry about it, I got this."

Mark smiled, said his goodbyes, and then headed to his recording room, closing the door behind himself. Time for another episode of his revisit of FNaF The Second.