The cat's out of the bag (Ren/Raz0r) - Marcus' Hole in the Wall

Are you so certain that her 'genuine help' isn't to try and come between us?

That thought echoed through his mind a thousand times since he read it.  No.  Of course it wouldn't come between him and Brody.  HE would never allow that to happen.  HE loved brody more then life itself.  HE would do anything to have that love returned.  But sad as it was, HE was lonelier then he had ever been in his life.  Trapped in a twisted, monstrous flesh suit that further alienated him from the world.  If Brody had been here with him, maybe this decision wouldn't have even come up.  If Brody had been here with him, maybe, he would have been able to prove how worthy of Brody's love Marcus was.  But he wasn't.  HE was alone.

He pulls out his phone, staring at it for a long time.  He could do this.  Raz0r seemed to -want- to help, and Ren.  Ren was amazing.  Surely she would understand.

He was so alone.

He dialed the numbers he had memorized....

Very shortly after he called her, she was coming through the door. Nope, not knocking. Just coming in, looking very worried.

"Marcus?"

He looks up startled, dried blood caking his face from his eyes down. Tears most likely. His skin was waxy, as though he was barely even able to put on his mask effectively, but he doesn't even notice it. He offers a weak smile to Raz0r, lifting a hand, and offering her a seat "Thank you for coming Raz0r" He says tiredly. The young nos was spent, emotionally and physcially so and it showed in his posture.

The room itself is actually fairly spartan. A single large bed, where Marcus is sitting, is pushed against the wall with a bookshelf and small desk. A map of the city, large and laminated sits on the wall with various pushpins tacked into it. Off in the corner, a utilitarian computer sits, powered down. Noticably though, there are blood splatters on the keyboard as well as surrounding the chair. A large table completes the room, scattered with various electrical components and computer parts. All in all...kinda homey.

She doesn't pay any attention to the chair he points to, or her surroundings. She closes the door and kneels in front of him, hands taking his.

"What's wrong, honey?"

One very armed Ren was the next to the door. Slipping in, and closing the door behind her, she followed the voices to where the Nos were chatting.

He opens his mouth, then closes it looking away. "First Principal Marcus: Vampires Lie" He mumbles, more to himself then Raz0r. He reaches up as a fresh welling of blood begins spilling from his eyes and wipes at it, leaving a vivid bloody streak on his face. Still looking away "I...can't...tell you." He whispers, shame forming on his bloody features.

He looks up in desperation, opening his mouth again as though to say it in a rush, but it comes out as a croak and he snaps his teeth shut shaking his head. He motions towards the computer, looking down again "It's all there..."

She waves Ren to the computer.

"Ren, love, you check and see what it is. It'll likely only confirm my suspicions."

Ren nodded, stepping over to the computer and taking a look at what was on the screen.

"Oh boy..." She said softly.

Her eyes are still on Marcus. They are full of worry.

"Tell it to me."

He draws his knees up to his chest, hugging them tightly while still looking down "You were supposed to be the bad guys..." he says quietly. "You were supposed to be how all this happened to me in the first place." He looks up, angry suddenly "You were supposed to be my sire Raz0r!!" The anger passes instantly, and his head thunks down onto his knees again as a fresh sob rips from his throat.

Faster than thought she's up and holding her arms around him.

"I still can be, if that's what you need. I can still take care of you and love you."

Her attention moved from Marcus to Raz0r and back again. She was suddenly concerned for both. Then Raz0r moved, wrapping him up in a warm embrace. "She will, too." Of that, the Brujah had no doubt.

He tenses up, as though afraid of the physcial touch but makes no real effort to move, but likewise, makes no effort to return the embrace. He just shakes his head, speaking into his knees as though afraid to even look up this point "Please don't hurt Brody. I'll gladly sacrifice my life so that Brody doesn't get hurt. He's the world to me." There is a desperation to his voice as he says this. "But I can't do this anymore. Nothing I've been told makes sense. Nothing they said to me is holding up under scrutiny."

"Shhhhhhhhhh, love. I'm not going to hurt Brody. I would never hurt anyone you care for."

She doesn't seem to mind or notice that the embrace isn't being returned. That's not the point.

"When I was embraced, I thought about greeting the sun for over a month. Brody was there for me. Talking to me. Telling me about the Camarilla and how they did this to me. He held me and made me realize that it was all going to be alright in the end." He says, lifting an arm and sliding it beneath his head as though to blot out the light. Maybe if he couldn't see them, it would be easier. "He said that if I came here, I could find who made me what I am and I could confront them. If nothing else then to ask why. He said that I was fighting as one of the proud members of the...." Nope. Still impossible. He falls into silence, shaking his head some "So I came home. To fight for something greater then myself." Once he started speaking, the words just seemed to spill forth from him. "Then I met you Ren. You were everything that they said you weren't. Funny. Compassionate. Warm. I wasn't expecting to hit it off right away, but we did. Shocked the hell out of me" He looks up with blood streaked face, offering Ren a weak smile, still hugging his knees to his chest.

Ren knelt down next to him. One hand reached out to rest lightly against his arm as she returned his smile. "I was surprised how quickly we hit it off too." Not that she minded.

He glances over at Raz0r "Then there is you. You -really- should have been my sire Raz0r. You..." he takes a deep, unnessicary breath "You are like a sire to me. In the brief amount of time I've known you, I've come to value your opinion about my work. You've seen me without my mask. You've reached out for me when I needed someone. You gave me the information I needed to know.." He looks down at the ground again "I can't live like this anymore. I can't hide who I am, fighting an fight that I was given the wrong rules for." He looks up at the pair "I want me life back. I want to go home to my dad and hug him. I want to preform in the winter solstice concert at the Port St. Lucie Stadium. I want to go back to work at the hospital! I. Want. To. Be. Normal. Again." He says each of these last words through gritted teeth, anger flaring on his features again.

Ren could see her heart break.

"If I could give you all that, I would. I would give you the world. But that has been stolen from you. The most I can give you now is my protection and my promise that I will do all in my power to give you as normal a life as a vampire can hope for."

"I don't want to die Raz0r. For along time, I wanted to. but I don't anymore." he whispers. "And Ethan is going to kill me when he finds out..." He trails away, fear filling his eyes as he thinks about this. "And if he doesn't, -They- will. Or Jamie. Or the Scourge. Or the Sheriff....any of them have a right to do so." He shakes his head "But I don't want to."

She tightened her grip.

"I claim you, Marcus. In the presence of an officer of the court, I claim you as my Childer. Your sins are mine, and any that came before are washed clean."

Ren had always respected the colorful little Nos. In that moment, her respect grew immeasurably. She gave his arm a gentle squeeze. "As an office of the court, I stand witness." She smiled at Raz0r.

He clutches both Ren's and Raz0rs' hand, one in each of his hands and smiles lightly "That means alot to me. It really does, but if anything comes down the pipeline because of this, I refuse to allow Raz0r hurt in my place." There is steely determination in his eyes as he says this, glancing between the pair. Finally he pulls both Ren and Raz0r into a tight hug, larger frame enclosing them both simultaneously.

She folds herself into the hug, holding him tight.

"Marcus, you came forward. For that, they will not kill you. For being family, Ethan will not kill you. And for being mine, you will flourish here."

She accepted and returned the hug. "Raz0r will take good care of you." She said gently. "And I'll stand up for you, should it become necessary."