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ellebabywrites · 6 years

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Judas Kiss 4 - Mark Lee

Type : Series // Angst // Fluff // Future Smut // Gang!au

Warnings : Violence // Character Deaths // Cussing

Summary : There’s only one rule. You protect your own. None of you had chosen this life, but sticking together was the only way to survive it. When one of you dies and things start going wrong, the boy that saved you once on a whim, might be the only one who can keep you together.

Author Note : Finally an update, thank you for being so patient !! I’m posting this on my birthday and I worked super hard on it so please give this chapter some love and let me know what you think !! (Flashbacks are in italic!!)

Walt’s. A local diner just on the other side of the tunnels, open from 7-11 every single day for the last 50 years. Also the only place King would willingly drink something other than coffee, and even then, only to appease his friends’ worried stares. Yes ‘friend’, perhaps the only true friend King had. He had known Peter Walt since they were teenagers; King followed in his father's footsteps and Walt followed in his - in running the diner. Despite their differences as time went on, they never lost contact, never gave up on each other. Walt was always there to give King a fresh pot of coffee after every rough night and King had always protected the diner from gang activities. King spent most of his days at Walt’s. Having just returned to N.City from a long vacation, he was taking a moment to readjust to the harsh realities of life here; no matter how long he’d been involved in the gang world, he could never fully get used to it.

King was sitting at his usual table, in the back corner by the window, facing the front street. He was sipping on his second cup of black coffee while reading the newspaper and occasionally people-watching.

“That stuff will kill you y'know,” a deep voice came from beside him. He didn’t bother looking up, already knowing whom it belonged to.

“No faster than a bullet would,” he replies indifferently, taking another long sip as if to make a show of it.

“Jesus King, do you have to be so morbid this early in the morning?” The man sat down opposite him, topping up the now empty coffee cup despite his previous warning. His thin figure leaning back on the burnt seats, folding his arms and giving King a cold stare in mock-anger.

“Sorry Walt,” King says, flashing a smirk and putting down the paper so he could talk with his old friend, “how’ve you been?”

While Walt proceeds to fill King in on all the news he’d missed in his time away; his wife’s new craft project redecorating the living room; his nephew’s College acceptance etc etc - King’s attention drifts to the people outside the window. Walt doesn’t mind; he’s known King a long time, aware that despite his seeming uninterest, the ticks of his eyebrows and slight lift of his lips let Walt know he’s listening.

Across the street, sitting on a bench huddled together, were two kids. The taller boy takes a foil-wrapped sandwich out of his coat pocket and hands it over to the younger girl; encouraging her to eat and smiling warmly, but they didn’t look very warm. The winter was fast approaching and there was no way the two could possibly be okay in just those thin coats, King thought. Noticing King’s sudden lack of attention, Walt follows his gaze out the window. Spotting the two kids, he calls over one of his waiters and tells him to take them out two hot chocolates.

“Those poor kids,” Walt starts, shaking his head sadly and watching as his worker made his way over to the two of them, “They’re homeless, I try and give them a drink or some food y’know, whenever I see them; it just doesn’t seem enough.”

King looks back at Walt, his eyes showing slight worry, but keeping his composure. “It’s not safe for young kids like that on the street,” He says, more to himself; looking back through the window. The two kids were sitting closely, sipping on the warm drinks they’d just been given; the taller boy stopping to help the girl roll up her sleeves.

---

“This is the gym.”

It’s the first official day of Mark’s training; you brought him down to the gym on the lower level of the firehouse, ready to show him around.

Down in the pit, there was an old busted up boxing ring, ropes frayed and mat wearing thin.

“That’s the ring, Ty works with us in there,” you explain, walking him around the edges of the gym showing off all the different sections with pride, “he teaches us all these crazy military fighting moves he picked up in Iraq, it will absolutely kill you at first but once you get the hang of it, you’ll feel totally badass!” Mark likes it when you’re excited like this. Your eyes light up and lips stretch into a beautiful smile, one you try to contain by pulling them between your teeth, but fail. It’s obvious how much you love this place, these people. It makes him want to work hard enough to make you proud too.

There’s a row of windows along one of the walls that looks into a room adjacent.

“That’s the ‘shooting range’, it’s kind of small but there’s never more than three of us in there at once,” you explain, opening the side door to show him inside.

There’s a shelf next to a bench, loaded with weapons; rifles, handguns and knives.

“This is Rikky’s I’m guessing?” Mark asks with a chuckle, pointing at the broken skateboard lying by one of the shooting stalls. You giggle along with him and jump on top of the split wood.

“Yup, he always breaks them so he uses the pieces as steps now,” you jump down and stand next to Mark opposite, facing the target sheets on the far end of the room, “Rikky will show you how everything works when you’re in here with him. He may act like an idiot, but he’s the best shot I’ve ever seen.”

“What about you? Mark asks, shifting a little bit closer, “What do you do?” He wasn’t exactly sure what answer he was expecting, considering how he had met you, it honestly could have been anything.

“I am the resident thief,” you say; proudly smiling up at him, “I pick locks and get us in and out of… difficult, places.”

“Ahh so that night at Bangtan’s you were stealing something, no wonder they were mad,” Mark teases, nudging your shoulder playfully and laughing at the way your lips automatically fall out of the smile and into a pout. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding! So what exactly will you be teaching me?”

“Nothing now,” you grumbled, turning your face away from him. Mark teased you like Johnny teased you. He knew how to play with you without pushing it too far; it made you feel comfortable, like you’d found a piece of the puzzle that was missing from your heart.

“Nooo, Y/N I’m sorry, please teach me,” he whines, tugging on your arm to get you to face him again.

“I suppose I could show you a trick or two,” you sigh, ready to continue the teasing, but a sound coming from the pit interrupts you both.

“I swear to God Rikky, I’m not in the mood!”

“C’mon big guy, scared you can’t take it? C’mon, hit m… ouch!”

You and Mark look out to see Rikky following Ty around the gym, wearing boxing gloves too big for him and throwing punches into thin air. It was comical watching the two of them; Ty, a 6ft marine, whining and pushing away this tiny string bean of a man full of energy, relentlessly pining for his attention. You both look at each other for a split second before bursting into a fit of laughter.

“Y/N!!” Ty called out, getting tired of dealing with Rikky and wanting to get away from him as quickly as possible, “Let’s go on a store a run! NOW!” you giggle again at his impatience.

“Time to save Ty,” you joke, poking Mark in the side when you move away, “I guess you’ll be with Rikky today, do you want anything from the store?”

In the background you can hear Rikky’s incessant chanting, ‘one two punch, one two punch, c’mon Ty just once, I’ve gotten so much better,’ followed by Ty calling out for you again, a heightened sense of urgency to his voice.

“No thanks, I’m think I’m good,” Mark says, feeling a little nervous about being here without you.

“Okay, I’ll see you later,” you wave goodbye, jumping onto Ty’s back when you reach him in the pit.

“Hey! Don’t forget my hot chocolate this time! It’s cold and you know my stomach is too delicate for that nasty coffee!!” Rikky yells behind you, making Mark laugh quietly, but of course that was his intention. Johnny made him feel at home a lot quicker by making him laugh, so he figured it would do the same thing for Mark.

“Yeah yeah, we got it!” Ty shouts back, halfway out the door already before Rikky can yell any more about his dietary requirements.

---

“Okay Mark let’s shoot some stuff!” Rikky came barrelling into the shooting range, a big smile on his face that in all honesty made Mark a little bit nervous. He’d never even touched a gun before, never thought he’d have to; now he had one of the best shooters around, according to you, showing him the ropes. Rikky grabbed a 9mm pistol off the shelf, checked the magazine and handed it over to Mark. “This is a pretty standard one to start you off with, it’s already loaded so just pull back the slider, aim at the target and,” Rikky moved Mark by the shoulders to stand in front of the target area and patted him on the back in encouragement, “squeeze the trigger.”

Swallowing dryly, Mark raises his arms up and takes aim. It’s a lot heavier than he imagined a gun would be; he almost doesn’t want to look as he pulls the trigger and hears a loud bang that definitely doesn’t sound right. Rikky’s hysterical laughter behind him is a pretty solid tell that he missed the target though.

“Jesus Mark, you might want to try keeping your eyes open next time!” Rikky is hunched over dramatically, still laughing his head off at Mark’s terrible first shot when he turns around.

“That was my first time, let me try again, I can do this,” Mark tried to pump himself up, when Rikky only laughs harder Mark decides he agrees with you - Rikky is a bit of an asshole. After a few more failed attempts and just a few half-decent ones, Rikky steps up to show him how it’s done; and that’s when Mark decides he also agrees that Rikky is one of the best.

“How the hell did you get so good at this!?” Mark asked, in complete shock at how Rikky hits every single shot dead centre. His mouth is gaped open and eyes wide, while Rikky just smirks, loving feeling like he was the best. It had been a while since anyone had had that kind of reaction to his talent.

“I used to run with a real bad crew,” he starts to explain, unloading the gun and putting it back on the shelf, “the kind of people I was with, if you didn’t learn quickly, you were dead .” His whole demeanour shifts slightly, no longer the joking ball of energy Mark had seen before, but now turning serious, almost sad, recalling the memories of his old crew. “It wasn’t like here with us. No one had your back, it was everyone for themselves. No one would come to save your ass if you were in trouble, no one cared. It was…. Dark.” Rikky handed Mark a bottle of water from his gym bag and sat down on one of the benches, Mark following him.

“Honestly, if I hadn’t gotten out when I did, I would be dead right now,”

It was total chaos. People rushing, shouting, shooting in every direction. Johnny grabs you by the arm and quickly pulls you behind a pillar just before a wave of bullets came darting passed your heads.

“KING !!!” Johnny shouts out over all the noise, “KING C’MON !!!”

All of a sudden everything stopped. An unsettling silence followed by the sound of bodies dropping to the ground.

“Okay kids it’s clear,” Lifting your head hesitantly, you see King standing among a pile of now deceased members of ‘The Pythons’, “Johnny, go take a look around back, see if we missed any hostages. Y/N, help me load these bags back into the van.” King ordered you both, grabbing one of the bags filled with cash and supplies, carrying it right out the front door.

“How did he do that?” you wondered out loud.

“C’mon Y/N, you know Kings’ bulletproof,” Johnny sends you a teasing smile before walking away to clear the back rooms. Back when you had first met King, you had been adamant he was some kind of iron man, the way he always managed to survive a shootout. Hence - bulletproof.

A month or so ago King had received a tip about a new crew from out of town, ‘The Pythons’, who were causing trouble. Kidnapping; arson; robbery - they were trying to move in on N.City and they were not being nice about it. It took three weeks to plan the take down; locating their current base; identifying the members and executing the whole thing. You’d rescued roughly 6 teenage girls from one of the storage rooms before it all kicked off. They were bloody and bruised, clothes torn and dirtied; you didn’t even want to think about what kind of things The Pythons made them do. You’re not ashamed to say that you all took great pleasure in putting them down.

Johnny circled round to the back rooms, using the barrel of his gun to push open doors enough to look inside. The door to the last room in the hall was slightly ajar; Johnny raises his gun and takes slow steps forward, ready for a sudden attack. But when he pushes open the door, what he sees is a man cowering in the corner; hands covered in blood and entire body shaking. Johnny recognises him from their surveillance photos, he was new, just a kid not much younger than himself.

“Hey, hey you’re Rikky right?” Johnny asks, crouching down in front of the trembling boy, “I’m Johnny. It’s okay, we’re not going to hurt you.” Rikky’s eyes were heavy and his breathing rapid, “no no no, buddy stay with me, it’s okay we’re getting you out of here! KING A LITTLE HELP!!”

“King carried me out in his arms. Y/N held me in her lap the entire ride back to base. Hell, Johnny wouldn’t stop telling me how it was all going to be okay and how I was safe now - even while I was drifting in and out of consciousness.”

Mark sits in awe listening to Rikky tell his story, he couldn’t imagine the strong, charismatic man in front of him being so broken and vulnerable. Maybe there really was more to the team then met the eye.

“What was Johnny like?” Mark asks carefully, noticing how Rikky’s eyes had started to glass over; but at the mention of Johnny, his whole face lights up.

“Oh man, Johnny...” he suddenly leans back smiling, wiping his eyes and letting out a small chuckle. “Johnny was my brother. Hands down one of the greatest people I have ever met, or ever will meet in my entire life. He dragged me out of that dark place kicking and screaming and put me back together with nothing but a bottle of mountain dew and FIFA,” Mark watches how Rikky’s face softens at the memories, “he..he taught me a lot. Johnny..Johnny was special,” after a beat of silence Rikky starts laughing again, “couldn’t shoot for shit though, still…better than you for a first try.” He nudges Mark’s leg teasingly, trying to lighten the mood.

“Hey! I’ll get better,” Mark promises, not being able to hide his shy smile behind a pout. Rikky reaches out to ruffle his hair before standing up again,

“I know you will, I’ll help you.”

---

There’s old Jazz playing, one of Ty’s vinyl's. King is busy chopping onions while you and Ty unload the groceries when Mark and Rikky walk in.

“Hey you two,” Ty calls out, handing you cups of ramen to put away, “How’d training go?”

You can’t ignore the way your heart skips a few beats when you see Mark walking in; he looks good; he’s smiling and joking with Rikky about something and there’s a small piece inside your chest that just clicks back into place.

“It was interesting,” Rikky answers, playfully shoving Mark towards you, where he instinctively starts helping unload the groceries. It’s cute, you think.

“Scratch that, it was absolutely terrible,” Rikky laughs, sending you a wink when you scowl at his teasing.

“Don’t worry Mark, you’ll get the hang of it in time,” King gives him an encouraging smile that makes Mark feel a more settled. He was still a little nervous around King, but I guess growing up hearing all the stories and legends would do that to you.

“Thank you, S-sir”

You all stifle a giggle, still not used to Mark’s over-politeness, but it was funny seeing him get so flustered over it.

“You don’t have to call me Sir Mark -” King starts,

“Yeah, Grandpa’ is fine,” but Rikky interrupts, earning a slap on the back of the head from King and a laugh from Ty when he dramatically falls to the ground.

“King, is fine Mark, Just call me King.”

You, Rikky and Mark all sit at the island, watching King and Ty cook; Rikky continuing to fill everyone in on their day of training, not leaving out how Mark may have made some new holes in the wall with his first few tries. “Yeah we’re definitely going to need a lot more training with Bangtan on our asses.”

“What exactly is all of this over?” Mark asks, eyes flickering to you next to him, “I mean, there are just so many different rumours.” That makes you smirk slightly. You’ve all heard the rumours, none of them true of course, but it made you feel like you were in some kind of reality show. If your talk with Mark on the way to the base was any indication, you could only imagine what kind of stories were running through his head now.

“You shouldn’t always believe the rumours Mark,” you tease, knowing full well that less than a week ago he was convinced King was some hell-sent demon dropping bodies left and right - when now he was making him spaghetti wearing the baby pink apron Johnny had gotten him for Christmas. While you and Mark lose focus, sending each other teasing looks and nudges, King get’s Rikky to help stir the sauce so he can prepare the spaghetti.

“We’re on good terms with most of N.City,” Ty explains, gaining the both of your attention once again, “Bangtan wanted to try and take one of our clubs-”

“They failed miserably obviously; King’s name’s too strong for them to take down,” Rikky adds, not really paying attention to his assigned kitchen duties and earning another nudge from King.

“They burned down one of our warehouses in retaliation,” you say, watching how intently Mark is listening to everyone.

“...a lot of our allies then cut ties with them, so now,” King finishes explaining, starting to plate up the food, “they’re looking for revenge.

A small silence falls over the room as Mark takes in everything; it’s a lot more straightforward than he’d expected, but nothing has been like how he’d thought it would here.

“They’ve been quiet for a while though,” Rikky turns off the sauce and brings it over to King, “They’re probably planning something.”

“There was nothing quiet about what they did to Johnny.”

Everyone looks at you. You’re staring down Rikky with such a harshness to your eyes that it makes Mark shiver. No one says anything for a moment, before King hands Ty a pair of plates and tells him to set the table.

“We’re going to have a nice, quiet, dinner to welcome Mark into the family - okay?” King’s voice is stern as he directs it at you; you clench your fists in anger that once again he’s pushing what happened to Johnny under the rug. You feel Mark’s warm hand gently tug onto yours, releasing you fists and pulling you towards the table where you all sit to eat.

It’s awkward to say the least, but not for long. Ty quickly bringing up a lighter conversation to try and dull the tension.

“Can you play FIFA Mark? We play a lot of FIFA here in our down time.”

When Mark shakes his head Rikky, who was sitting next to you, hits your shoulder making a joke that ‘I doubt you could be any worse than Y/N.”

“Actually….I remember Y/N absolutely destroying you the more than enough times Rikky,” King jests along with the group, raising his eyebrows and winking at Mark. Rikky’s incessant whining after that making everyone laugh again, nerves a little lesser.

---

Mark’s been training with you all at the base for the last couple of weeks; alternating between working with Rikky in the shooting range; Ty in the boxing ring and you teaching him other useful tricks. Today Mark was with Ty. The last few hours spent dripping in sweat and throwing punch after punch; quick footwork dodging Ty’s advances around the ring.

The gym was silent, bar from the sound of their heavy breathing and hands making contact. It was getting late but Mark kept going; he’d just started noticing improvements and didn’t want to stop.

The gym door opens with a slow squeak as you poke your head through, “Guys,” you call out, finally gaining their attention, “King’s out so we’re ordering pizza for dinner,”

Breathing heavily, Ty takes off his gloves and gives you a thumbs up, “Cool, We’ll wrap up.”

Shooting Mark a quick smile, you disappear again; leaving Mark staring at the door where you were stood. Ty picked up on Mark’s feelings for you pretty quickly, hell, it was obvious as anything even on the first day; he doesn’t miss the way Mark’s focus is still glued to the door even minutes after you’d gone and he’d started packing up.

“You like her,” he says plainly, as if it wasn’t this big secret Mark had been keeping for weeks.

“W-what, I mean, of course she’s great, she…” he looks adorable, cheeks flushed and stuttering over his words, damn he had it bad.

“No,” Ty interrupts, saving him from digging an even bigger hole, “you like like her.” Teasing Mark had become Ty and Rikky’s new favourite hobby, especially when it came to you. Even more so when you were there because of how it would rile you up too; it was all in love but still Ty worried. He cared deeply for you and didn’t want to see you hurt again.

Mark was just standing there, speechless, in front of Ty. Was he really that obvious?

“Look kid, I can see you care about her,” Seems he was, “but you need to be careful.”

“What do you mean?” Mark asks. You were one of the strongest people he’d ever met so Ty’s warning confused him.

“You’ve heard about Johnny?” Mark nods, “Well, when he died Y/N took it really hard, she was the one who found him,”

Johnny had been gone for a while and you were already running late for the mission, “King I’m going to grab Johnny!” you yell out before running out the door, picking up the discarded umbrella Johnny had left behind, and heading out in the rain.

The tunnels to the city are empty, as they usually are, but something about tonight made you feel on edge. Something was wrong. You didn’t get paranoid; living on the streets had taught you plenty about walking around in the dark; so why were you feeling so off?

The city is just as bad. There’s an eerie silence that makes the hairs of your arms stand up; again, normal, but something was definitely wrong

You start running through the streets, taking a few twists and turns till you get to where the store is; and then you see him.

You weren’t crying. Not yet. Why was he lying in the street? Maybe he fell asleep? He was gaming pretty late last night, yeah, he just fell asleep in the middle of the road in the pouring rain like an idiot. Yeah.

You’re frozen. You don’t want to move any closer, if you stay right here then everything will be fine, then Johnny will just be asleep, everything will be okay. But the rain is getting heavier by the minute and he’s getting wet, why isn’t he waking up if he’s getting soaked?

With slow steps you move forward, vision blurring when you see the ground is stained a deep red. You shake and whimper at the sight. He’s on his back, staring blankly at the sky, letting the rain wash away the blood surrounding him.

You take out your phone and call King.

“K-king,”

“Y/N where are you guys, we missed the….”

“K-king.” You can’t bring yourself to say it, that would make it real. You don’t need to though, just hearing your voice King knows something’s wrong and says he’s coming.

When they get there, you’re sitting on the floor, cradling Johnny’s head in your lap, combing his hair with your fingers and begging for him to wake up.

King, Ty and Rikky stand there, frozen just as you were, watching the scene. It was heart-breaking.

“Y/N,” King’s voice is soft behind you, he reaches for your shoulder but you’re quick to pull away, not wanting to be dragged into reality just yet.

“No!” you yell, “Johnny’s not waking up,” Your trying to keep your voice steady but all that’s coming out are whimpers, “He’s getting wet King, he needs to wake up,”

“Y/N,” Ty repeats, coming to kneel beside you, trying to get you to look at him. Rikky stays back, still in shock, unsure of what to do or how to help. He can’t see Johnny like that.

“Y/N we need to go, it’s not safe here,” Ty reaches for you but you push him back harshly, you can’t just leave him there.

“I said No!”

Ty looks up to King, his own eyes glazing over as well. When King gives him a subtle nod, he wraps his arms around your waist and forcefully pulls you away. He’d hear your screams every day for the rest of his life. Feel the hits and punches you attack him with every day. Remember the look on your face, before he wrapped you around him like a koala and pressed your head into his neck, forever. He carries you passed Rikky, back towards the base, taking you as far as possible so you didn’t have to see anymore.

King reaches down to close Johnny’s eyes, placing a hand on his forehead gently and choking back his own sobs. Rikky finally makes his way over and mutters out an ‘oh god,’ he’d seen plenty of bodies before, many worse off than Johnny’s, but it’s different when it’s your own brother on the ground.

“Let’s get him out of here.” King says blankly, turning to his ‘boss’ persona, keeping his feelings hidden.

“She passed out on the way back here,” Ty explains, “She didn’t wake up for two days; refused to leave her room for another two after that, then when she was finally getting back to herself, she went to Bangtans’.” Ty keeps his head down. It’s hard for him to think about that day, but Mark needed to know, to understand. You weren’t as strong as you seemed.

“Jesus,” Mark whispered, hearing about Johnny’s death for the first time, “They were close then? She always mentions him but never really talks about him too much,”

Ty nods eagerly, “Oh yeah they were each other’s other half's,” he goes on to explain, “they met in a foster home when they were just kids, apparently the place was a real shit show, tons of abuse, so they ran away. Lived on the streets till King found them. They’ve only had each other their whole lives - when Y/N lost Johnny, it was like she lost a part of herself.”

Taking a deep breath, Ty gets up and grabs his stuff, throwing Mark a water bottle in the process. When he’s packing up his gym bag, Mark spots a photo of a girl next to Ty, “Is she on the team too?” he asks curiously, he hadn’t heard any other names being mentioned.

“No uh, that’s Beth,” Ty grabs the photo and hands it over for Mark to get a closer look, “my little sister.” There’s a hint of sadness in his voice as he tells Mark about his sister, the reason he joined the team.

Walt’s is busy today. In the back corner at his usual table, King is waiting for Ty.

“Are you King?” Ty asks nervously, sitting at the table when he’s given a nod in confirmation and handing over a photo. “This is my sister Beth. I heard you could help me find her.”

King takes the photo in his hands and looks at the young girl, Beth, who couldn’t be much younger than you, he already knows he’s going to help but he needs to know more.

“What happened to her?”

With a nervous shuffle, Ty opens up his phone and shows King the messages between him and his sister, “I just got back from the Army and I get these messages, she says she’s coming to N.City with some new ‘friends’, and no ones seen or heard from her since.” King quietly listens, looking at the texts filled with emojis and kisses, swallowing hard when it reminds him of you. “She’s my little sister and she’s in trouble.”

“And why do you think I can help you? There are hundreds of people in the city and they’re not exactly the ‘friendly’ type,” Just as King starts to ask more questions, making Ty a little nervous, the door to the diner chimes open followed by a ‘Hey Uncle Walt!’

You and Johnny spot King at his table and immediately make a b-line to join him.

“Hey King, who’s this?” Johnny asks, shuffling next to Ty in the booth while you sit opposite next to King.

“I’m Ty,” he introduces himself, pocketing his phone feeling more nervous about this meeting than he had when he first walked in here.

“Ty needs our help finding his sister,” King explains, “She came to the city with friends a few weeks ago and hasn’t been seen since.”

“We can help!” Johnny buts in, giving Ty a warm smile, you eagerly doing the same, prodding King with your elbow to get him to speak.

“We’ll help you.”

“We looked for Beth for weeks but found nothing,” Mark almost regrets asking, seeing the look on Ty’s face, “That’s why I’m so protective over Y/N, I can’t lose another sister.”

“I won’t hurt her Ty,” Mark says, looking him in the eye, “I’ll protect her.”

“I know Mark.”

---

It must have been passed midnight when Mark woke up on the couch; training most days with Ty was exhausting him, but he could definitely see the changes it was making too. He forces himself to get up and make his way to his actual bed.

Dragging himself down the hall with heavy steps, Mark passes your room, noticing the door was open. Inside, you’re lying on your side tucked into Ty’s chest. His nose buried in your hair and arm hanging on your waist.

“Don’t worry about that,” Rikky’s voice came from behind him, noticing how Mark was just standing outside of your door looking flustered, “Y/N gets night terrors.” Rikky leans against the doorframe next to Mark, watching silently as you nuzzle further into Ty, searching for warmth.

“Johnny used to sleep in with her; since they went through stuff together on the streets, he could always calm her down. Since he died they’ve been getting worse, so Ty does it” he explains quietly.

Mark looks over at your sleeping figure again and notices the way you keep stirring, then he notices the way Ty holds you tighter each time you do and he can’t hide the slight jealousy that washes over him.

“She’s got it bad for you anyway dude,” Rikky teases, “she gets all googly eyed and mushy, it’s kind of gross,” he makes a disgusted face and they both laugh silently.

---

“Jesus Mark what did you do!?” you yell slightly, seeing Mark hunched over on the couch holding an ice pack to his face.

“I hit the practice dummy too hard and it hit me back,” he laughs at himself, it really was pitiful. Shaking your head your head you grab the first aid supplies and sit next to him, “at least it’s practice for when I really get punched.”

“Don’t make those jokes,” you can’t help but laugh a little with him though, how was he so clumsy? Since he’s been here he’s hurt himself half a dozen times already and that’s not including the training. “I’m sorry,” you whisper after the giggles have died down, taking the ice pack off of him and applying ointment to the bruise, “...for dragging you into this mess I mean, I’m sure this isn’t exactly what you wanted.” As much as you love having Mark around, you couldn’t help feeling incredibly guilty for bringing him into this life, no one chooses to be here, Mark’s only in danger because you were stupid enough to get caught at Bangtan’s, this was your fault.

“Hey,” he grabs your hand to make you stop and focus on him instead of his wounds, “I wasn’t going anywhere in N.City, I didn’t have anything, at least now I have you,” you both stared into each others eyes for a beat, cheeks slowly growing flushed ‘till you can’t help but let your eyes fall to his lips.

“...The team… I mean,” he covers nervously.

“Oh, yeah of course.”

“How exactly did you get involved with this stuff?” Mark asks, trying to talk about something, anything, that would stop his ears from burning.

“There’s this diner in the city called ‘Walt’s’, when Johnny and I were on the streets, the owner would give us free drinks and stuff; then King noticed us and started getting us meals each day…”

“Johnny I don’t want to,” you were pulling on his arm, desperately trying to drag him the opposite direction, “that’s KING, the scary guy from the stories, it’s not safe Johnny!”

He agreed with you, but it had been days since you’d last had proper food and it would be a while yet before you could again.

“It will be okay,” he turns to you and kneels down to your level, holding your hands, “We need food Y/N, he’s Walt’s friend so he can’t be that scary right?” Johnny could always calm you down, it was like his super power, no matter the situation he would always make you feel safe and protected. “Besides, I’ll be with you the entire time, I’ll keep you safe.” Maybe he was just your superhero.

After a few meals with King, you both opened up to him exponentially. Like Johnny had promised, he stayed by your side and you both soon realised King wasn’t even half as scary as what people thought - at least not to you. Truthfully, King had started to see you both as his children; eating dinner together almost every day for years, it became harder and harder for him to watch you walk back into the streets afterwards. For some reason he felt the strong need to protect you both. Maybe he saw the innocence that still lingered somewhere beneath all the trauma and shattered glass. That’s when he decided he was going to take you in.

“...He took us in, gave us beds; clothes; food. He got Johnny the Xbox and taught us how to cook. He’s basically our father,” you smile. King really had done so much for you, sometimes you forget.

“Do you miss Johnny?” ‘Stupid question Mark of course she does’ he thinks as soon as he says it.

You look at him again and nod once, you never really talk about Johnny as him with anyone. Sure you’ve mentioned him in stories, much like the others had, but talking just about Johnny was hard, because it’s just a reminder of how you don’t have him anymore.

“So much,” you decide you won’t cry in front of Mark, he makes you feel safe, “he is my favourite person. He was the ‘rock’ of the team, everyone could go to him with any problem, anything at all, and he’d make it better. He brought us all together.”

This Christmas sucked. You all failed a mission two days before, leaving you all pretty beaten up; King was busy with meetings all day, the fridge was empty and none of you could stand long enough to get anything. Everyone was in a mood; hungry; tired and just over it.

“Right!” Johnny suddenly announces, hobbling up from the couches you were all sprawled across, “FIFA tournament, now! Rikky and Y/N vs Me and Ty, Winners get to choose the movie for movie night for the whole of January!”

Despite the initial reluctance, you all agreed and after a few rounds, it made things better. Suddenly the four of you were full of energy, hyping each other up and having to remember not to jump too quick on your bruised legs when you scored. Laughter, cheers and shouting soon filled the dull room.

“What’s with all the noise?!” King shouts, smiling when he walks in to see all of you huddled together around the tv, “I bought Ramen!” he shouts again, finally gaining your attention.

“...we ate ramen and played games all night that year; Johnny turned one of the worst Christmases in to the best, just by using his stupid football game as a way to make us watch 27 dresses every week for a month,”

Mark puts a hand on yours and rubs circles over your knuckles as you talk, still sitting impossibly close, he could feel you pouring your heart out to him and he was going to catch every piece of it.

“Can I speak to Mark for a moment please Y/N,” King had appeared behind you both and was giving you the look that told you to leave. You give Mark a sad smile before going, missing the warmth of his touch the second it’s gone.

“How are you doing Mark?” King asks, taking your place on the couch, though not sitting nearly as close as you were. “You’ve improved a lot, I’m proud of you.”

There was something to the way King had said it that made Mark feel good, he was proud of himself too, he was truly happy here.

“Thank you King Sir,” King smiles softly at the boy who still can’t seem to stop calling him ’Sir’, but he’d given up trying to correct him, he was starting to get used to it.

“Now Mark, I think you know by now that Y/N is like my daughter, she’s very precious to me,” it felt like he was about to get ‘the talk’ so Mark swallows dryly and nods along in agreement, “Y/N cares deeply for you, that makes you important to me too. I hope you know that whatever happens, you are apart of this family, you will always have a home here, that is a promise.”

Mark felt like he could cry. King was looking at him with such sincerity, opening his arms and welcoming him into his home, into his life - he’d never felt so at home before and it was overwhelming. To be wanted somewhere, to be apart of something.

“T-thank you, I-I, just thank you for everything,” Mark says, holding back the tears and smiling at the man who was giving him a fresh start in life, a life with meaning.

“If you’re thankful, how about helping me make tonight's dinner son, I’ll teach you how to make my famous Risotto,” King stands and gestures for Mark to follow, leaning in and whispering teasingly, “it’s Y/N’s favourite.”

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