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His mom is great, he knows this, and she gives him the best advice.
“Sometimes the only thing you can do is run Mark so get good at it, when times get rough, when the enemy has his sights on you , bolt first.
Keep your distance if they try to close in.” She's saying as they watch Dad on TV.
Mom has watched every fight she could mostly to give him advice, because he hasn't seen him in person this week.
His dad’s busy and is barely home, but his mom’s here to give useful pointers.
Lately he's been fighting off all sorts of threats.
And as they curl up on the sofa watching as Dad ducks and uses his flight to speed up and away from the line of fire. Guns are blazing, bullets dropping ,he swears he saw a girl with a sword half his size threaten a teller on the screen.
Villains using their powers or skills to keep his dad at a distance. So he backs off.
One starts to sneak up the roof tops, they lose sight of the humanoid cat.
Then the camera focuses on the figure sneaking from the rooftop towards his dad. As he builds momentum to crash into their backline.
Then they get vision, she leaps and lands a nasty bite to his neck and then she pushes away.
Her teeth have to be sharp to do such a thing, but then she sweeps him.
Debbie makes an amused chuckle .
“ You know my mom taught me that move once.” She rests her head on Mark's shoulder.
“Really?” Mark hums, and tries to not be too interested.
“Yeah, I think she’s my favorite villain yet, ugh I would've had two kids if I had met her a few years back”His mom muses.
The idea of adopting another little one had been an idea that she was interested in but with Nolan being so occupied,she didn’t think it right, but now looking at the young cat girl hybrid on the tv .
Her son tries to remember one of the stories or news clippings from back when she was out doing the swiping. And there next to the tv, there’s a frame from Amber, hanging in the living room.
Her blue catsuit, and black studded bomber, with light beautiful sheek boots, in a stunning mix of chalk and spray paint. Blacks and blues and for the background a Chicago alley reds, and browns, trash, and alley cats peek at his mom from the city’s dumpsters.
Catastrophe’s trademark, a shiny caramel and black coated mask, part beanie and mask, his mom made when she first started stealing to help feed herself. It only covered half her face, and her eyes used to be a caramel makeup color ,on her eyes. She didn’t have anyone to ask how to build this. It was her own design, her own beautiful creation made from shiny glittery dresses, at the goodwill and faux leather she found in mottled ruined jackets.
Shatterproof goggles, she swiped from a military surplus store, she tinted them a amber color, and popped the lenses off.
“She has your eyes, ”Mark snarks, and his mother laughs, the girl has two eyes, one ,matches the goggles his mom keeps in the living room, right next to some basic looking flowers.
Mark gets lost in the entanglement on the tv.
His mother is trying not to see the parallels.
Her tail puffs up, and then Dad reaches out to punch her, she jolts back and then she runs back to her comrades as they rob the bank.
Soon they bolt away Omni man, grabbing whoever isn't fast enough to run off and throwing them to knock them out.
Then there is the loud sound of an explosion.
“ I think Catra learned from last time, she planned ahead” Mom tuts, as the motley crew makes their escape.
They blew up a civilian area. It wasn't too crowded but Omni man would rather save lives, almost always.
Catra got away, with her friends on her heels.
“ Mom, can you teach me since Dad won't?”Mark blinks his mom's eyes back at her. Pleading and lovingly, she folds fairly quickly.
Those pretty brown eyes of hers stare back at her
“ That's probably smart,I’ll look up some of the stuff I was taught, refresh my memory and we can go through them together.”She gets up and pops her back. Stretching her shoulders gently.
She remembers her own mom going through the moves with her.
It would be nice to spend time with her son, but maybe she can sweeten the deal.
“And maybe we can invite Will, both of you could use the edge if you get in a pickle”
“Do you think I have a chance?” Mark does the cute shuffle he hasn't done since he was younger.
But it has a hint of anxiety to the little shimmy.
She thinks of William, he already knows about the fact that Mark has the chance to get super powers, when her husband accidentally revealed them when he was there for breakfast after a sleepover.
Known for years hasn't told a soul, and the boy has a sweet heart, and truly likes her company.
She's also seen him blushing and flustered when she tried to see if there was anything there.
And he was asking about Mark and about her he was a good kid, and with school shootings being on the rise and crime picking up.
She wants both of them to be safe and for them to stop being in this limbo of uncertainty.
And there's a worry there in her chest that her son should enjoy the time he has…if he ever gets his powers he'll have a lot more on his plate.
“ Please he has a good head on, he'll definitely still be friends even if he can't be with you in that way, Mark” She turns off the TV, reaches to grab their empty plates.
Mark beats her to it, he grabs the plates and starts heading for the sink.
“I'll take care of it Mom, you have work in the morning” with that statement of cheer she's alone, the sounds of their dishes in the sink clattering seem to echo in the room before she turns off the Tv and fixes up the living room.
And she gets a head start on her night time routine.
She checks on her favorite box of jewelry. She eyes her ‘Shit has gone down fund ‘ checks it over and puts it away.
But then there's suddenly more noise, and a thump on the floor above her along with a pained yelp.
“Be careful Mark, you're not”(cue title card)
..
Boiling water boils faster, if you turn the stove on.
And Will can't believe Mark's alive, his mom chortles as she gets the leaves. Watching Mark fumble is amusing, he laughs back at them haughtily.
They were making tea and some breakfast together, something simple and some toast.
Debbie was in charge of eggs, so she got a great view of their shortcomings.
Mark was on tea and William was currently spreading butter and some seasoning on the toasts.
After the hiccup Debbie goes through the main points over their breakfast making.
Mostly to be safe and if Mark does get his powers he could use the lesson in control and to learn some techniques that could help him.
For William who took some lessons in self defense it was more about helping him gain more skill.
And to learn as Mrs.Grayson said, how to get away and be flexible enough to have a chance if something went down.
Also she would like to spend more time with them so that was nice.
“ Remember, that their will always be someone stronger, so being strong is good but everyone has goals, and if you understand the goal then you can work with that in mind”
“Like those robbers yesterday, they wanted money, but they also didn't want Dad or any big names so they went in and out, with a diversion on a solo hero?” Mark responds with a grin on his face as he waits for his mother's approval.
He has troubles with focusing on school at times, but if Will or Debbie try to connect somehow he can understand why it's important to learn it and put more effort in.
And he's always been interested in super heroes, mostly because of the big chance that it would be in his future.
“ Mark, it's also for you to learn control, having superpowers like your dad has downsides, and mostly it comes down to control and discipline.”
She demonstrates with a kick she does not tip over easily and her form is strong.
“When we were first dating your dad had troubles mostly understanding interpersonal relationship stuff.” Debbie walks back over, to the eggs that are frying.
“But you're gonna have a hella time controlling them, and to encourage you, once we get some basics down I'll get your dad to play punching bag.” Mark serves their tea while listening, almost spilling William's little green mug.
“What about sparing, Mrs. Debbie”, William chirps as he grabs their plates and puts a slice of the prepared toast, his pride and joy.
“Nolan thinks that powers come in when puberty hits full swing, so the more hormones and stuff the more stress-”
She slides an egg on each plate.
Mark hums somewhere serving the tea, the rush of water that tells them that he decided to get a start to wash dishes.
“The faster or more likely way he will gain powers and this way there should be just enough to help him grow if he does have them.” Debbie pauses and then gives him a reassuring squeeze.
“It's supposed to be safe but Will, it might not be safe for you, what if he gets them when you wrestle or grapple,” Debbie pauses and breathes in deeply stressed.
“What if you decide to give him a kiss, and he gets a little too excited. And poof, the good thing is after he gets them if he doesn't get it soon it's more than likely he's not like his dad. He’s got about four months, and then..”
Mark’s mom makes a sound that resembles a popped balloon.
“He shouldn't get them after,but there's a high chance he'll get them before.”
“I know your parents accept you but they aren't exactly proud, so if you want any tips on anything, Kiddo” Debbie sits down and Mark comes back and William blinks away his misty eyes before the group digs in.
“First, some basics, I'm going to focus on parkour, running, hiding, and thinking fast,” Debbie mentions when they're done.
“Um miss, Grayson, how do you know how to do this? I know about Nolan but..”
The rest was lost when Debbie cackled and in his confusion William jumped slightly.
Mark watches as his mom starts to tell her story, eyes on William and his reactions.
“The name was and is Catastrophe” Debbie responds and she smiles gently.
Williams' hushed gasp of awe, is all Mark can notice for a moment, a small gentle gasp.
“Dude your mom was robin hood, but with better taste”
“Even better, she helped the guardians once, the Martian man wasn't originally on the team, mom had a part time job of finding superheroes and sending them to places where they were needed.” Mark chirps out as he digs in for another bite.
“Eh he simplified that bit, you see I would sometimes hop cities every now and then and I always typically got a place in a bad end of town.”Debbie takes a sip of her tea .
In a way it makes sense to hide and be hidden where more people lived, is just a good move especially if you're robbing rich assholes typically.
“ Sometimes my heart wouldn't let injustice slide so I would interfere, but I can't handle the burden of caring so completely for a community.”
Debbie shares, and then she pauses to look at Mark.
“And I was a thief, I would give them money to support the community, the soup kitchens , some cheaper housing, but what they needed was someone to oversee it. Make sure people have their resources and safety nets in place.”
“It takes more than what I had, so if it was really bad.. I'd shop around for someone who could and would help them out.”
She pokes at an egg the fork rings on the ceramic.
“That explains the cult following you have” William says as he thinks back to some of the murals in her likeness, some art, heroes mentioning her in passing.
Cataclysm is important but it's been years since she's been active and because of her deeds. There are better heroes out there; the line between hero and the antihero is blurry.
“We start in thirty”
“Let’s go change Will.
—---------------------------------------
—---------------------------------------------------
“Remember if I find you, you can try to escape me and hide again, you just need to survive twenty minutes of this. You have ten minutes. "Debbie explains.
The boys nod and they get ready.
…And Go” Debbie’s watch went off , loud chirping beeps.
Twenty seconds in, William almost gives him a heart attack.
“Move bitch , Diva in a crisis! ”William screams at Mark and immediately goes for a hiding spot. The neighborhood is good but it’s not exactly the city, there’s not a lot of places to hide without being disturbed.
So thus a park was chosen.
Mark goes for the restrooms and immediately beelines for a stinky empty stall, He shimmies up until he’s very high up. Reaching the top of the stall and deciding to continue hiding there.
William on the other hand decided that booking it, and getting into a tree would probably be a good idea with his frame, but once he thought more on it.
Wondered that if she did find him she would immediately be able to corner him since it would be too high to just tank the drop.
So he went for a dark blue slide, and the play area it belonged to was full of sand. William made a wobbly leap so he wouldn’t touch the sand and leave footprints ,that would definitely throw away his cover.
Hidden and with space to make a quick escape. William survives the first twelve minutes, without being lured out of his slide.
He didn’t move when she tried to bait them, or even when she bet she could sic Nolan on them.
She bangs on some of the bars of the playground, the metal clanging and singing a loud terrible symphony. Debbie grabs a lone bouncy ball and then in her infinite wisdom throws it at the restroom, specifically near the roof made from aluminum.
It crackles and the sheer sound is painful from his hiding spot
A loud yelp echoes out.
Sht, Mark.
Seeing Mark’s mom go towards the sound and William decides to back track and hide where she already looked. She goes into the stalls, He waits for a pause.
The slide makes little to no noise, just the slight ruffle of wind and clothes gives him away as he launches across the sand, landing on his knees dirtying them up, but he continues.
Debbie knew he was high up but how high and low was the question.
Also there was one door to get out and she knew he was here.
She put one of her weary legs on the stall and sent Mark tumbling.
With some simple jerks.
He lost.
He picked the first stall , the one with a weak wall and creaking hinges. But he did see some of the sand on the playground scattered from the space in between the stones. He saw his mom enter, she hit the wall. She moves away from the door, he holds on till he stumbles.
William did win, mostly because Debbie was going easy on them and to try to give advice and pointers.
“Alright, Mark we’ll need to work on hiding, and I will drill this into both of you. Hopefully if it becomes second nature you two can stay safe and hidden depending on the situation.”
—----
Mark was terrible but thankfully he was becoming better, her son wasn’t clever but once she taught him something he could use it, and would proceed to use the new trick until he got it.
Mark and William were hopping fences as fast as possible, this time an empty one, Both Mark and William depended on using other objects to give some leverage, trashcans, bags, anything really, William even got the jump on Mark and used him like a stepping stool. At one point.
“Remember sometimes there is no clutter” Debbie is older but with the kids and her exercising her body feels way better, She takes a running leap , and launches her upper half through the first half then using the force to propel the rest of her body to the other side.
She feels way happier now she thinks, as she takes a sip from the thermos in her bag.
“Use the momentum , and the jump to cover as much space as you can,”
Mark goes first, he takes a running leap and his hands are protected with a pair of blue garden gloves. The fence rings, and he pulls the rest up till he slides off to the other side, and jumps safely.
“I hate this one, ’William murmurs, and goes for it as well.
His jump gets him halfway there, and he manages to shimmy up, the rest of the way.
“Eh good enough ,You’re gonna be doing a lot of running and hiding, anyway.”
—
The krav maga lesson went better, William managed to get a hit on Debbie,it was after a demonstration on how to use the moves they were taught.
Unfortunately she then wipes the park ‘s grass with his shirt.
He goes for the same type of move, going to try to land one of his admittedly fast but weaker kicks. And then either hitting her with an elbow or a punch.
Instead Debbie just dodges his strikes, and then tumbles away to throw dirt in his eye.
“Debbie, again with the dirt” William coughs, as he tries to listen for her footsteps she’s always leaving a sign of where she is when she hits him or Mark with pocket sand.
He hears something and ducks, only for him to hear a very familiar and loud chuckle.
“Debbie, this one caught me,” William opens his eyes to see Omni-man and wishes the sand just blinded him permanently.
Embarrassing himself in front of his maybe homophobic father in law.(He doesn't really know, the man hasn’t been around long enough for him to try to test that.)
Was really too much for him .
“Hi, Mr. Omni -man Sir, Let me grab Mark for you” William says and then excuses himself and runs off in the general direction of Mark.
“ Thank you Will, you're a pal.”
Omni man waves him off, cheerfully.
“Hello, Hero~” Debbie greets, and goes to give her buff husband a smooch.
“Hon, Dark wing Really?”
“Oh hush he’s a good friend, and he needs more friends, he only has the guardians.”
—-
Mark’s busy learning how to use his teeth, mostly because as his mom put it,as human’s we don’t have a lot of but we make up for it with some tenacity.
She also mentioned that villain’s had a real bad habit of putting fingers in mouths, especially if they think they have the upper hand.
The wrestling bag was not the best training partner, for this, was his guess.
God this was terrible.
So he launches himself at it, like his mom taught him and aims at where he thinks weak points could be, eyes, noses, ears, groin.
A light chortle breaks him from the exercise.
“What did the punching bag do??” William says in between a laugh.
Mark gets an idea, a clever line.
“ He beat me at bowling can u believe that,”
“ Oh definitely you're terrible , a dedicated goose could fight you and win.” William teases.
“I was 8 William ”Mark huffs , and stays straddling the punching bag.
“ In fact , I remember you crying for me to help, me..” William laughs, breathless in between audacious words.
—--------------------- Two weeks later.
Mark gets his powers during a running exercise.
He’s currently being hunted by his mom, who is way too fast for her age, and has been getting even better with all the training.
William is faster at this than him, picking places to scale and scaling the roof’s with more energy. The dude is out of breath, but William has his own tail.
His father, which has William trembling and running around like a particularly scared cat through Chicago.
Omni-man is going easy on him of course, but William sees his eyes on him and he bolts, he hears the wind and he’s off again.
The blonde barely has any gas left in his tank, running on fumes.
William stays close to the ground not making any leaps, and is starting to stray to more populated areas. Overall Debbie approves, people, and tight areas are the best for losing a flying superhero.
Then he hears his friend yelp, Omni man has William by his shirt.
“Honey, what about a new game, Keep away”
“Dad, Let him go,” Mark says, anxiety running in his veins.
“Catch, Mark ”He throws William, and William is already flipping like Debbie taught him, springing himself. It isn’t a big drop, it’s small but the boy has already decided to roll, to lessen the damage. Mark falls with him, wrapping his arms around his friend’s waist, his head on his back.
They brace for impact, but the pair is floating, more specifically Mark is.
The boys hover, and William dangles until they slowly plop onto the dirty street.
It’s like a bubble burst, at first there’s no reaction even Nolan is surprised, His wife laughs joyfully giving Mark the courage to cheer.
His family is dancing in a dirty alley, his wife happy and joyously spinning the boys into circles, with her. They link hands, and Nolan knows he doesn’t fit, but he goes to kiss Debbie on the cheeks.
The kids are now dancing together, softly jumping and cheering.
He nuzzles her dark hair, until she hums sweetly.
He wishes this moment would last longer, so he clings to the scent of her perfume, lilies, and the smell of her creams.
–
Mark’s favorite blonde is sitting on his bed, going through his homework, while Mark considers his options.
William’s on chapter two now, and Mark has one stupid idea.
“Hey, Will I need help with something,” Mark pleads, William raises an arched brow.
“What kind of help, Mr”William sang, eyes darting across his homework. But now his big blue eyes were leering at him.
“I need to practice biting. I never got around to it.” The superhero suggests, his eyes darting in a bashful motion, as he gets closer to his friend.
William tries not to choke on his surprise, at Mark’s tone, as he gently presses his hands on top of his.
When Mark gently tangles his hands onto his hair, he pants, before kissing him fiercely along his neck,
Sweet tender kisses on Mark’s collar, and William’s dedication into showing him what biting really looks like, on his new skin.
They kiss, and tangle on the bed, hand in hand, kisses upon rosy cheeks.
Mark goes for William’s collar intending on using his new lessons, on his love.
“Mark, Kiss, me like you miss me red” William purrs and pulls Mark in to give him another kiss.
“You stole that from Deadpool you Dork” Mark laughs into his skin.
William responds by thrusting up, to rub against Mark.
William’s trying to kill him, Mark decides, before joining him in his show of affection.
The blonde is moaning his name, and telling him to take him to the stars, Mark groans into his shoulder in reply.
Kisses spread along his collarbone, warm hands underneath William’s sweater, caressing him tenderly. Loving roaming light fingers that tremble and waver over soft skin, pressing hot kisses onto his flesh.
Marks sucks along , sharp teeth nipping along Will’s ears, his hands combing gently through his hair as he smells, honey, and spearmint.
“You belong to the stars, Love” William hums, against his neck, hot blessed breath onto his now boyfriend’s back.
“My love you are my stars" Mark says, a kiss pressed sweetly on his forehead.
His vision fills with the stars he thinks of the coldness of space. Of the long nights, of his hunger, and how it went without being answered till he came back to William.
“Will, I love you.”
A kiss is bestowed.
“I want you to be with me” William murmurs, into his skin. Big eyes framed with lashes stare back into Mark, and he trembles before diving in to give him a flurry of kisses to his eyelids.
“I don’t know how I can leave” He Says truthfully.
“Mark , do you know what you are to me, you are something to believe in again.”
Mark trembles in his arms, tears generously marinating William’s shoulder.
“You a type of person that had ceased to exist for me, A fine and honest man”
and they cling hand in hand, heart to heart.
They trade kisses until they both gasp for air, kisses and tears run wild, and pairs of hands wander under shirts, and under sweaters.
Mark savors the taste of William’s mouth, of mint, and the honey he had to help him with his cold.
..
.
When he loses him he can’t bear to have honey with his tea, or mint in the garden.
Mark feels his loss when he looks to the stars, and when he looks at his mother, who can only reassure him , and hold him , as they both try to heal over their scars.
Over the pain of betrayal, of the loss of their love.
They sit on the couch some nights and watch movies together, sometimes they find themselves calling only to receive no answer.
Calling to a husband that is long gone, and calling for a boyfriend that is gone, gone.