Avenger Assembled Posted October 3, 2010 Author Posted October 3, 2010 "I wanna go back home," said Mark quietly. He followed Erin without saying much outside, the strangeness of riding on her back muted after so many practice sessions together. He didn't say much on the short trip home, but when they did reach his dark and silent house, he asked her, almost fearfully, "Erin, can I ask you something? Something really personal?"
Electra Posted October 3, 2010 Posted October 3, 2010 The trip was very quick, just a couple of bounces, and Erin already knew the way. She stood with Mark on the edge of the lawn, oddly reluctant to go any further towards the house. Maybe it was not wanting to intrude on Martha's grief, maybe it was not wanting to have to take any of that grief onto herself. "All right," she said cautiously, studying Mark's face for some hint of what he wanted to ask. She didn't like personal questions, but even she wasn't heartless enough to deny him right now.
Avenger Assembled Posted October 3, 2010 Author Posted October 3, 2010 Mark hesitated to ask the question, genuinely frightened of making one of his best friends and closest emotional allies angry. He felt truly, monumentally alone just then, the betrayal of everything he'd thought he believed about his family and his relationship with his father still ringing harshly in his ears. When he'd worked up the courage, he finally closed his eyes and asked, "How did your dad die?"
Electra Posted October 3, 2010 Posted October 3, 2010 Erin was quiet for a long time, staring at the dark house. It almost seemed like she wasn't going to answer. "He got the flu," she finally said, her voice quiet. "It was a pandemic, lots of people were getting it, but I didn't realize yet that it was going to affect us, that it was going to be the end. Really late one night my mom woke my sister and I up and told us to pack up some stuff, because we had to leave. I was so sleepy and confused, you know, waking up in the night, I didn't even notice until we were already in the car that my dad wasn't with us. He hadn't come near us while we packed, or kissed us or said goodbye. He watched us from the front porch while we pulled out, and I saw him coughing." She was quiet for a minute. "I don't really know how he died, exactly," she admitted. "One of our neighbors broke in to find supplies and found him on the kitchen floor. She called us to let us know." Erin ran a hand through her hair, then tugged hard on the ends. "I hope it was fast, and that he didn't have to lay there for very long." That was probably way too much information, she realized, but the words just came tumbling out one after another before she could stop them.
Avenger Assembled Posted October 3, 2010 Author Posted October 3, 2010 Mark studied Erin as she told him something that cleared up many of the mysteries that still surrounded his reserved friend. Well, some of them, anyway. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, the two of them alone in the dark of his lawn. "Thank you for trusting me with that," Mark added softly. "Not everyone trusts me with...with important things like that." He swallowed hard. "I can't ever compare what happened between us," he said with a single headshake. "But the Terminus took both our fathers away. My dad left the day I died, and he never came back." He scrubbed his eyes. "I should go."
Electra Posted October 3, 2010 Posted October 3, 2010 "Try and get some rest," Erin told him again, forcing her way free of the sticky web of the past to come back to the realities of the present. "Tomorrow we need to talk with the rest of the team about whatever it is your dad was trying to warn us about. If there is going to be another invasion, we need to be prepared, but we need more information. We both have a score to settle, and I intend to see that he pays for what he's done. Meantime, you'll feel better with some sleep. Give me or one of the guys a call if you need anything, okay?"
Avenger Assembled Posted October 3, 2010 Author Posted October 3, 2010 "I will," Mark promised. He studied Erin closely, thinking about her for a moment. As with all of his female friends, he'd occasionally wondered what it would be like to be with her. He was fiercely glad at this moment, though, that there was nothing between them but friendship. "Thank you for coming out and helping me tonight. Thank you for being my friend," he told her. "I'll see you tomorrow, Erin." And with that, he began the slow walk back to his house.
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