Actions

Work Header

White Cloth Between My Teeth

Summary:

They won.

Wanda was defeated and most of the infection was reversed.

They can all rebuild society again.

So why did Eric feel even more hopeless than ever before?

Work Text:

“Come here, little man….”

 

Blade would cross his legs and motion for the baby landshark to walk over to him. Poor thing had heavy tears running down his cheeks as he tried to curl up as tiny as he could into the Dhampir’s lap. All Eric could really do was pet him. Use his naturally cold skin to comfort the baby. Let his fatherly heart help heal the child.

 

Certainly must be so traumatic for this poor baby. He saw his father figure as a zombie. He had to fight his own father, and be cursed now with the burden of the next heir. To a throne with to much power for such a tiny little body. He wasn’t ready for this big scary world. Not yet.

 

“He is a fellow mutant….I am sure it will work out…..” Magik tried to comfort as well, but that was not her strong suit. All she could really do was lie. Try and give the baby some kind of comfort. It was hard to sooth such freshly open wounds. 

 

“Take care, little shark. Once we defeat this Wanda that has harmed our realm it will all become better! Her defeat shall reverse the effects. He shall be well again!” Thor boasted with hope that washed over them all like aloe to a burn. 

 

“That’s gonna fix everything? How would that fix a damn thing?” Frank would negatively comment. Much to Eric’s frustration. 

 

“She purposely infected our fellow heros. She is behind it, as for anyone of us to actually be infected would be nay! As Magik said. He is another mutant! He should not have been infected so easily, so of course her reality manipulation was at play!”

 

“You and your magic bullshit.”

 

“Frank, shove it.” Eric snarled from where he sat. 

 

God he hated Frank. Even more after Marc’s death. Frank seemed to lose any filter he ever had over the Avatar. Any comment he made was like triggering a blood thirst for Eric. He wanted to kill him so damn badly. The only thing keeping him from such as the fact they needed all the help they could get right now. Wanda was somewhere in Midtown. They had to find her and end this. 

 

“Still crying over Spector?”

 

“Keep his name out of your mouth, Castle. You are the last person I want to hear talk about them.”

 

“Pff. Them. Yeah, sure. That mentally ill bastard and the voices in his head.”

 

“…..Illyana, hold Jeff. I need to eat-“

 

Thor had to jump in and hold Eric back. Meanwhile Magik took Jeff into her own arms to keep him from being caught in the crossfire. The poor baby was going through enough trauma as is. Didn’t need to get hurt now. 

 

“Go on! Give in to who you really are already!”

 

“FRANK! STOP IT-!” Magik snapped at him, as she adjusted how she held Jeff. 

 

“You are purposely trying to start a fight! We can not have these turmoils right now. You two can settle this later. We must embark again. We have to find her.” Thor would remind them all, as he was holding Blade the same way as Magik to Jeff. 

 

“Is it a fight when I’m right?”

 

“I WILL KILL YOU, CASTLE!”

 

The argument was silenced swiftly by a sound that made even The Queen Of Limbo shiver. The howl of a thousand voices. Voices of people they once knew. The screams of the damned. The pain from dead loved ones. The wails of the recently turned. It was misery in a choir. 

 

Wanda was near.  

 

“We must follow her call, post haste!”

 

“Yeah. Run right into a line of fire. Smart idea, blonde.” Frank muttered. Least Eric was dropped to the ground now. As the new Avatar he needed to take lead here. For both the sake of humanity, and the vengeance of his fallen companion. No…companions. 

 

He pulled out his Dracula’s blade and kept his stance ready. Magik would let Jeff return to the ground and he would scamper over to Eric. Give his leg a nudge. His own way to help him feel better. Just somehow. Eric lost people too. At least Marc didn’t become a zombie. Khonshu gave him the last grace as a Father to let his wrappings conceal him into a muffled tomb. 

 

Finally be put to rest. 

 

The three could finally rest easy now. 

 

That’s what Eric kept telling himself. That they were at peace. That they didn’t have to suffer anymore pain and trauma. They were put out of their misery before the infection could take hold. They were free now. 

 

And he is going to make Wanda regret it. 

 

“I’m not protecting you. So if you die, good riddance.” Eric would snarl before taking lead. Frank didn’t respond. He just followed. Everyone just followed Eric’s lead. Follow those slivers of moonlight that escaped the blood red sky. Listen to the new MoonKnight. 

 

He hated being called MoonKnight. That was Spector. That was Lockley. No Mr. Knight either. That was Grant. If he is to be referred to his new title it will be Blade Knight. He just can’t be called Moon Knight. He just refuses. It was just…..Too real. 

 

It really meant they were gone. 

 

“Khonshu says she is near The Avengers Tower. Guess her fucked up brain still thinks Vision is around.” Eric commented, as he would help Magik up over the broken bits of fallen wall. She didn’t need the help, but she didn’t refuse it. Eric was the only man that never made her feel weak or fragile. If he’s helping her he’s just fighting his own demons. 

 

He couldn’t save his boys, but at least he could help her. 

 

“I understand her burden. To be full of chaos magic with no real means to control it. Your emotions are impossible to seperate…..But there is still a responsibility to uphold. You don’t see me tearing rifts into limbo every time I have a bad day.” Magik would comment, as the air around them grew thicker. It was in a constant mist of red. The chaos magic around them was heavy. It was over flowing from her rotting body. She was unstable. Who knows what will happen next. 

 

“She can’t just go around killing other people’s loved ones now. Killing them isn’t bringing hers back….” Eric sneered, as he lifted his mask up to help block the air. Magik followed suit and tore off fabric from her attire to make a mask. Thor follow suit. The three of them were more hyper sensitive to magic after all. Hopefully it won’t bother Frank and Jeff to much. 

 

“For once something we agree on.” Frank would butt in. 

 

“Thin ice, Castle.”

 

“Wow, I agree with you and I still get in trouble. Aren’t you just empathetic huh?”

 

“Empathy comes easily to a father whose daughter is still alive. How’s your kids doing?”

 

“…..”

 

“That’s what I thought. So shut up, and keep your gun loaded.”

 

Hard to tell if the chaos magic in the air was making it so thick, or Frank and Eric’s beef. Was like the moment Eric took up the mantle Frank seemed to instantly start beefing with him. 

 

Maybe he was mourning in his own way. 

 

“Shhh-…..” Eric held out an arm to keep everyone back. They were about to round the corner, but if they did it might have been on sight. The Avengers Tower was right there. She was right there. She was on her knees, violent weeping, as she hugged herself tightly. The only thing that remained of her passed away lover seemed to be a sharp she wore around her neck. The only thing she had left. That, and her tears that were ever overflowing.

 

“She is distracted. Everyone listen to me-” Eric tried to round everyone up to form a plan. They couldn’t jump into this head on. She was a chaos wielding witch. Her chaos magic rivaled that of Loki himself. She was unpredictable. Not only to them, but even herself. Eric wanted to try and see if they could flip that script. Use that intense power against her. She was clearly over exerting herself. If they did this right they could hold a window for attack.

 

“She is a being that is unpredictable. You can’t just plan for random.”

 

“You never worked with Deadpool then, Castle.” Magik pointed out as Eric nodded. 

 

“You two think this will be easy. We need to just charge in-”

 

“No we don’t, Frank.”

 

“Blade is right. We must listen to him. Him and Miss Magik know Wanda. Yes this Wanda is from another time line, but the heart is still there. We must trust these two.” Thor would try to give logic through the magical haze. Something that seemed to not work. Perhaps the magic in the air was getting to him. He was getting trigger happy, and maybe Eric could use that.

 

“Fine. You wanna charge in? Go.”

 

“Eric-”

 

“Fine by me. You’ll make a good distraction as the real team works.”

 

That pissed Frank off. He wanted to just bring his shotgun to Eric’s face, but he had to hold back. Dammit….Ya know what? Fine. If that is the plan, so be it.

 

“Scarlet Witch!” Frank shouted, as he walked himself towards her. Meanwhile the rest of the members scattered. Flight, dive, teleport, what have you. They scattered around and perched where they needed to go. 

 

“You either snap out of this or we end this the hard way. You aren’t bringing him back. All you’ve done is kill! Is that what he wanted?!”

 

The witch turned her head at him in a screech. Nothing but anger poured from her throat as she was floating into the air. His gun remained trained on her as she glided. Still screaming and seeming to prepare to attack. Her hands were rippling this painful red as her cries bounced off the skulls of all who heard her.

 

“YOU KNOW NOTHING OF MY PAIN!”

 

“You made me KILL MY OWN WIFE AND CHILDREN YOU CRAZY BITCH!’

 

He fired off a round, but she was impossibly fast. He couldn’t tell if she teleported or simply moved like that. He just knew this wasn’t going to end pretty. If he’s going down he's gonna go down fighting. He has done a lot of bad in his life, but he still did a lot of good too.

 

With Punisher firing, Jeff would bounce into action and dove down. He would catch her eye and she would immediately try and fire at him. She was trying to balance a man who had to many bullets while also trying to keep her distance from a shark trying to swallow her.

 

“BEHOLD! DARKCYLDE”

 

Wanda gave a turn to only have a massive sword swing at her. It wounded her, but didn’t weaken her. If anything she was even more enraged. She swung her hand towards Magik, and now had three threats to balance all at once. Her anger was dripping from her teeth and her magic was becoming more hiccuped. Zombies were reacting to her call, and they were trying to overwhelm them.

 

They only got so far when lighting was being shocked through them all. Bouncing from one rotten skull to the next. Cooked, decayed, flesh filled the heavy air. Thor was swinging his hammer and keeping all at bay for as long as was needed. He will not let Wanda keep on with this terror. He will fight even if it was to his last breath.

 

“Do you know what you are doing, My child?”

 

“Not in the slightest….”

 

“Do you believe you will be successful?”

 

“I gotta be….They wont die for nothing. My boys aren’t statistics.”

 

“Then make her the next number.”

 

His Blade was drawn and he took his leap. She was distracted and this would be his chance. He had to swing for her head.

 

Yet time stood still.

 

There was a hand around his throat, the world around him seemed to be trapped in this red snow globe. Everyone was trapped in this stunned bubble. They tried to move, but it was like lagging real time. Only flickers of movement. No one was able to come and save him.m

 

“You will not get in my way, Brooks.” She would hiss at him. Her grip was as tight as stone. He was dangled like nothing more than a doll. His grip was tight on her arm, fighting for air, but she was simply stronger. 

 

“Vision wouldn’t want this-“ He tried to reason, but it resulted in something painful being shot through his body. The best way he could ever describe such intense pain was what he always envisioned what vampires felt when trapped in sunlight. 

 

“You know nothing!”

 

“I-I know YOU-! I have my own Wanda…..She wouldn’t want this….She would keep living for him. What about Pietro-?!”

 

Another violent pain flooded his system. The intensity caused vessels to pop. His nose was starting to bleed as she kept him high in the air. 

 

“You do not speak about EITHER OF THEM!”

 

“ILL TALK ABOUT THEM ALL I WANT! Wanda, in this world we are friends. We are close friends. What happened to the Blade of your time line? Aren’t we friends there?”

 

It seemed to force her to pause. Force her to think. A moment of vulnerability. 

 

One he took advantage of. 

 

He grabbed the crescent off his chest and swung it down on her arm. The scream was deafening as he was dropped to the ground. Her forearm was completely severed. Blood was spraying everywhere as she tried to grasp what had just happened in front of her. 

 

“VENGENCE IN SPECTOR'S NAME!”

 

He charged forward. He tackled her to the ground, and all her eyes saw was a blinding white light. 

 

The world was in a flash bang. 

 

Everything was trapped in this white. Nothing but white. Even if you closed your eyes it was that perfect hue. It was impossible to avoid. It was painful, but there was something calming about it. How it would slowly fade until the red mist was gone. It was like it absorbed all that was toxic in the world, and left the planet in a clean slate. 

 

It was raining. Not blood. Not toxic sludge. Just normal rain, against a world in blues and silvers. 

 

The moon was full. 

 

The sky’s were pure. 

 

And Eric was on his knees. 

 

He sat there, looking down at the growing rain puddle, as the chaos magic around him swirled and shot into the air. Returned back into the cosmos to be redistributed back into the karma of life. May she find peace. May she be at rest. 

 

May they all be at rest. 

 

“PA PAAAAA-!”

 

The unstunned heroes turned to see Jeff hobbling over to Namor. He was gravely fatigued, but he was holding onto the broken car for support. His infection truly had been sucked out of him. He was wounded, tired, but alive. He was back to his old self and his son couldn’t be happier. Even when so weak the King took to his knees to welcome his son into his arms. Whispers of apologies and forgiven chirps and trills. 

 

“I told you it would all work out!” Thor would cheer, as he came over to assist the man. Meanwhile Eric hadn’t moved an inch from where he was. Made Magik and Punisher give him a concerned look. 

 

“Eric….?” Illyana almost whispered. 

 

He didn’t respond. He just stared into the growing pool under him. Looked to his own reflection with no real expression. Just stared at those white out eyes. If he just focused on them hard enough…..He was able to look at someone else for a while. See someone he missed. 

 

“Brooks, you still with us?” Frank asked, as he would appear in the reflection. Eric could tell that Magik and him were standing there. He knew they were there, but he just couldn’t bring himself to raise his head. To join in the celebration of victory. 

 

He still felt as hollow as he did when this whole mess started. He didn’t feel any relief or closure. He thought he would. He would defeat her and everything would start going down a path of healing. He thought things would be different. He would keep carrying the mantle and have his daughter take over his position as Vampire Slayer. There were plans for a future. 

 

But a future felt so pointless with out them in it. 

 

“Go join the others. I think it is time I bring him home-“ Magik spoke, only for Eric to interrupt. 

 

“No. Take me to Spector's place.”

 

“Brooks…..Don’t do something stupid now…..”

 

“I couldn’t if I wanted to. Trust me, I’ve tried…..”

 

Frank and Illyana gave each other a concerned look. Neither felt it was smart to leave him alone right now. He was somehow in a darker place then when they started. It was like his final purpose in life had been fulfilled, and there was nothing else keeping him tether. 

 

“Bring him to my home, my child.”

 

The voice of Khonshu rung amongst their minds. Even Frank had to stumble. He looked around to see no one. 

 

“…..If something happens, it’s on your hands.” She would point her sword towards the moon before giving it a sharp slice across the air. That brilliant blue would form its circle, the screams of limbo, and the terror of a hiccup through time. 

 

Frank would force Eric to stand, and assisted in getting him through. It was like his soul left his body. All that was left was a man that gave it his all. Nothing left to give. Nothing else to grow. He was just Khonshu’s suit of armor. Ready to be worn by the next soul. 

 

Inside the darkness they entered. The once Manor of Spector. Not a light to be had. No candles. Not even moonlight. The only person who would be able to see was Eric. Darkness was all he knew, and such sensitive eyes could only handle so much. He preferred it like this. Alone in the dark. 

 

Where he belongs. 

 

“Eric if you need anything…..You know how to contact me.”

 

“I know.”

 

Magik went to the portal, but she couldn’t stop herself from spinning around and hugging him. That act seemed to be what snapped him out of his trance. He couldn’t stop himself from hugging her back. 

 

“I’ll be ok, Ana.”

 

She hated nicknames. She hated them with a passion. But it’s different when it’s from him. Everything his different with him. 

 

“Please be ok…..” She whispered, before he pulled her face over to kiss the top of her head. 

 

“You know it takes more than this to get me down for the count. Now go and help your fellow mutants. Alright?” 

 

“Alright…..”

 

She would stand at the portal, waiting for Frank. The human seemed to be trapped in his own moment of pause. Unable to get whatever words in his throat out. He wanted to say something but they just won’t leave. He was choking on something and he refused to move until it got out. 

 

“……I…..” Frank gave a heavy sigh. 

 

“Nothing I’ll say will be seen at anything deeper than a man angry at the world, but listen….If there is anything keeping you here, let it be this….He would have felt like he failed if you went down with him. Ya want him to feel like he failed?”

 

“……”

 

“Course you don’t. If your brain can’t reason itself to stay alive, make it. If that crazy ass bastard could make his brain come up with two other people, then I think a half vampire is gonna figure out how to tell its brain that it can stick around for a while.”

 

Frank would step through the portal without another word. Didn’t want to stay around to hear the response. 

 

“….As cheesy as it is….Brielle needs you to…..I know it is darker and deeper than that, but Marc wanted the world to be better for her as well. Right? What better way to keep it than keep her father in it?”

 

And the portal closed. 

 

Silence and darkness was all around him. No nature could break through the walls. No buzzing of electricity. There was nothing but his own breathing. Nothing more and nothing less. 

 

He needed to lay down…..

 

Through the empty halls he roamed. He could do it blindfolded at this point. This had become more of an estate than his old apartment. It had even gotten to the point that Brielle had her own room here. Of course when this zombie madness broke out he sent her to The Abbey. He still didn’t want her back quite yet. Not until it was all certified. 

 

His baby girl gotta keep living. 

 

Through hallways with relics of ancient past, past windows broken by chaos to nature, up stairways covered in dust, and into the highest point of the home. A attic turned altar. The final resting place of not only Marc Spector, but Jake Lockely and Steven Grant. 

 

There under the sun roof would be a sarcophagus made of pure white and accented gold. Its design that to show the fallen knight, with its face showing three sets of eyes compared to two. The arms were crossed with crescent blades in its grasp. It was truly a work of art, and he hated it. He hated how it seemed so perfect. Like it was ready for them to die. 

 

He would push the lid off to expose the mummified body inside. Wrapped perfect and clean. Not so much as a single piece of dust had touched it. Eric refused for such a thing to happen. He refused to leave the body to just lay there. He didn’t want to just abandon him. 

 

Steven was scared of being alone…..

 

Marc didn’t like the dark…..

 

Jake was claustrophobic……

 

He climbed himself inside and laid his head on the chest of the body. If he closed his eyes, and just pretend, it almost felt like everything was normal. That his face wasn’t pressed against a corpse. It was simply one of his boyfriends wrapped up in a blanket. That was all. That was what happened. Steven was just cold. Marc was wounded and needed to be wrapped up. Jake had gotten into another fight and needed to rest. There was….a reason. 

 

“Eric-“

 

“Don’t. Just…..Just let me pretend. It’s the least you can do after all I’ve done for you. Let me just have something.”

 

His eyes would squeeze tighter. He was fighting his tears as hard as he would with hunger. If he cried then it would all be real. It would all be a reality. He would be forced to address that all three of them were gone. He just needed to breathe. He just needed to pretend. Let him pretend. Pretend what he was smelling wasn’t embalming and sand. That he was just smelling Steven’s favorite tea. Marc’s unwashed hair. Jake’s cigarette. Just let him have this moment. 

 

“My powers have been restored, my child. I have my strength once more.”

 

“Good for you. Now fuck off already. I’ve done your job. Are you going to make me do it forever? Be reminded every day that I could protect them?”

 

“You aren’t listening.”

 

“I’m TIRED of listening! Just go away. Let me….let me……”

 

He couldn’t say it. 

 

He couldn’t say grieve. 

 

Khonshu would go silent and now the air was filled with quiet sobs. He couldn’t keep it in anymore. He wanted his boys back. He needed to kiss Steven’s forehead. He needed to have Marc hug him. He needed Jake to tell him that everything was going to be alright. He needed his boys back. He lost all three of them in one single breath. He lost so much all so fast. 

 

“Please come back….” 

 

His tears would soak through the wrappings on his chest. Seep into the skin that had not yet decomposed from its preservation. Tears of a Dhampir. Something one would call pure fantasy. Perhaps it could be something valuable. Whatever the world told him, it didn’t matter. These were tears of a man that lost not only one partner, but three. Three he loved with all his heart. They were gone. They won’t come back. No matter how much he screamed at Khonshu. They won’t come back to life like some fairy tale ending. He didn’t get a happy ending. Vampires don’t get happy endings. 

 

They get killed off for the hero. 

 

They simply turn to dust. 

 

“I miss you…..I love you….”

 

He would keep weeping and trembling where he laid. Unable to let go. You could tell him he was there for centuries and he would believe it. Maybe if he stayed here long enough he can just…..Never wake up. 

 

But even death won’t grant him mercy. Not unless someone else killed him. As if anyone would ever give him that blessing. Not even Dracula could anymore. No. He was stuck here, whether he wanted to or not. He was stuck here to weep and hold his lover close. 

 

Hold and listen. 

 

To a heart beat. 

 

His eyes would bat away at the tears when he heard it. He swore he was hearing a heart beat. There was a heart beat under his ear. He was certain of it. His hearing was too sharp to mistake it as anything else. He was hearing a heart beat. 

 

He sat himself up and looked around the final resting place of his lover. Try and see who could be the owner of that sound, because there could be no possible way it was under the wrappings. He looked around at the snuffed out candles, the miniature marble pillars, the dead flowers he collected and offered, the old clothes and bedding from when he refused to sleep anywhere but there, he saw everything in the darkness. Eyes were built for it. He saw nothing living in the room. He only saw the dead. 

 

Yet…..

 

No. He couldn’t. There was no way. He must have finally snapped. That was what happened. He went off the deep end at long last. With no more Wanda his brain crumbled into itself into a PTSD riddled hallucination. That had to be it. That was what happened. 

 

Then he saw the chest moving. 

 

There were shallow breaths. It was as if the body was struggling to breathe from the wrappings and pressure he applied to his body. There was a heart beat and breathing. 

 

“I’ve gone insane….”

 

This couldn’t be happening. This was a trick. Maybe he never killed Wanda. Maybe this was her manipulating reality right now. Give him false hope to just then rip it away. Torture him for the murder attempt he threw at her. To challenge her and borderline mock her lover. This was all one big trick. Maybe it was maggots even? They finally got to his corpse? There just couldn’t be…..

 

He had to check. 

 

He didn’t want to see it. To shave the last memory he had of them being their corpse. A dead face. He didn’t want that. He wanted the last thing to be the smile. The hope still in their eyes. But he….had to know. 

 

Shaky hands would begin to unwrap his head. Slowly he went. Each layer feeling heavier with each pull. Stuck to one another they were from sucked away moisture. It was as if peeling back layers of skin. Layer by layer of flesh, until one layer was left. A thin enough fabric to show that there was breathing from an open mouth. 

 

The final layer was removed. 

 

“…..Marc-? Jake-? ….Steven?”

 

A sharp gasp left the body, eyes were shooting open with pure white where irises and pupils should have been, and it would sit up. Sand would begin to be coughed up from his lungs as he seemed to come back to the real world. Bleached out view would fade into those familiar browns. Browns that always had a shine of the latest moon cycle. 

 

“Ugh…..You never get used to your body being stuffed with sand….So. What did we miss?”

 

Eric fainted. 

 

“AH-! ERIC! Oh God oh God-! Khonshu, what happened?!”

 

“I tried to tell him but you know how humans are. Let alone a half.”

 

“Why do I have a feeling that’s a load of bullshit and you never told him I’ve died before? Did you tell him I’ve had rebirths?”

 

“We were busy with The Scarlet Witch.”

 

“You never told him that when your powers were restored I would get resurrected?!”

 

“It slipped my mind!”

 

“And you wonder why you don’t have any friends, you god damn-“ Marc wanted to keep screaming at the God Of The Moon, but he kinda had a passed out Dhampir to handle. His poor Eric. He couldn’t imagine the torture and self worth issues he went through. 

 

“Stupid-Fucking-“ He tore away the rest of the bandages and stole spare clothes that had been left in the altered attic. With those on he would kneel over and try to wake Eric up. A sure fire way was this. Nicking his finger. 

 

That single drop of blood made his eyes open. 

 

“……Am I dead or are you alive?”

 

“I’m alive….I’m alive, and you saved not only the day but reality itself. For this time line anyway…..Isn’t that great?”

 

Eric didn’t believe it. He couldn’t. This was too fairytale. He didn’t get those endings. That was for people like Captain America. He wasn’t him. He was a murderer at best. He didn’t deserve those endings. 

 

“I’m so sorry for the scare. I would think the guy turning you into his Knight would inform you about resurrection. Mother fucker……Ugh. Anyway uh…..You gonna catch me up on what happened while I was away? Besides the obvious being her dead.”

 

With how casual Marc was acting it was making him really believe this was real. This was real and raw. He wasn’t being told ‘your tears of true love brought me back to life’ or something stupid like that. Khonshu did a Oopsies and now he had Marc over his face. Curls sandy and smile crooked. 

 

This….was really happening. 

 

“Are……Are they-“

 

“Yep. Still got voices in my head. Steven is going to give me a migraine with all the screaming for joy he is doing for you. Jake is trying to get him to pipe down but even he’s crying. Knew he was a cry baby. And….Wait. Have you been crying-?”

 

Marc would cup Eric’s face, brushing his thumb over the fresh tears, and that was what sent him over the edge again. His touch. It was really Marc holding his face right now. 

 

“Oh my god you can cry?!”

 

Yep. That’s his socially unaware Marc. 

 

He yanked him into his arms and kept weeping. His face was buried in his neck as he kept whimpering in his sobs. His Marc was back. His Steven. His Jake. They all came back to him. 

 

Perhaps he really did do a good job for Khonshu. 

 

This was his blessing. 

 

“Hey…..Hey I’m right here. Khonshu won’t admit it but I’m his favorite. I don’t die that easy. Neither do you, so we are stuck together in the long haul. Now stop crying……I’ve got a headache. There’s sand in my ears.” He complained, and that just made Eric cry more. Not in a insulted way. A happy way. 

 

This was his Marc. 

 

“I-I just….Y-you-“

 

“I know. Fucking Khonshu. Yeah you gone silent all of a sudden huh? Knew you fucked up!” He flipped off the moon, before he cradled Eric’s head into his chest. Wasn’t the best at comforting, that was more Steven’s job, but he sure can try. 

 

“Hey…..I know you were thinking about me the whole time I was away. So lemme tell you something. We were thinking about you too. Worried sick and wondered what was gonna happen when Khonshu told us you took the mantle…..Scared us shitless, but we knew if anyone could do it that be you. And look at that…..”

 

Eric looked up to see Marc give him that forever crooked smile from his jaw always being broken. A constant state of tired eyes that looked down at him with nothing but love. 

 

His Moon. 

 

“Is now a bad time to tell you that you look really hot in the get up?”

 

“Yes, Marc. Now isn’t a good time.”

 

“…..Well…..You do, so-“

 

Eric wanted to slap him, but the fact he could have those thoughts again made him smile. He pulled his partner into a kiss and it was returned with equal fever. 

 

The MoonKnight. 

 

The DayWalker. 

 

Back together again. 

 

Forever circling each other. 

 

Forever intertwined. 

 

Forever.