Hello There

Steven did not particularly enjoy the Innerworld. He had gone many years without being aware of it, which was ironic considering how much time he had spent in it, according to Marc. He didn't dislike it, as it wasn't meant to be disliked. It was meant to be a comfortable living space for three of them. And it was, Steven did have to admit. But that didn't mean that he particularly liked his time there.

It really wasn't the Innerworld itself, it was how he felt not being in control. It wasn't that he didn't believe that Marc and now Jake couldn't take care of themselves, because they definitely could, probably better than Steven could, but sometimes, feeling like he had no control was a little overwhelming. With the large amount of information he had been given with the introduction of Jake Lockley, he felt overwhelmed. 

Apparently, so did Marc, because there he was, sitting on a bench under a tree in the backyard of the massive house in the Innerworld.

"Marc?" Steven called out. It had only been the second time that they had seen each other in the Innerworld, and though Steven felt like he'd be seeing Marc around a lot more now that Jake had finally introduced himself, he doubted that he would ever get used to seeing his friend in the flesh (sort of) in front of him.

At the sound of his name, Marc flinched a bit, then relaxed once he realized who it was that was calling out to him. Marc sighed, then waved Steven over to sit next to him on the bench.

"Marc?" Steven called out again, sitting next to the man. "Are you okay?"

At first, Marc didn't respond, and the hesitation was enough to tell Steven everything he needed to know. Marc, at least, understood this, and he sighed before shaking his head. "I hate feeling so helpless. It's something I've felt all my life and it was so much easier just to... not acknowledge things." Steven nodded, understanding exactly the type of helpless that he was feeling, and waited for him to continue. "Now it's like... I can't ignore it anymore, and it makes things so much harder."

Steven rested his hands on Marc's shoulders. "Have you ever considered that maybe facing things would make your life easier?" He asked, unfazed when he caught Marc's surprised gaze. "Your whole life you've run from things that are hard. You made me and Jake to cope with your- our- mum. You ran away from home. You ran away from your life. You ran away from Dad at the Shiva. Marc, it's your instinct to run. But maybe, this time, it's better to face your shit."

He knew it sounded a bit harsh, but it was true. That was the exact reason they had found themselves in the Duat. Marc needed to stop running, and this was something he couldn't run from. Like it or not, Jake was a part of their system, and Marc could hide all he wanted, but he would just end up hurting Steven and Jake in the process. Steven didn't know Jake that well yet, but he did know that the three of them had to work together to be a functional system, and Steven was going to do whatever he could to make that possible.

"Steven, you have no idea what kind of monster we're dealing with here," Marc said after a few moments. "You saw what he did in Cairo. He's homicidal and a maniac. We're going to end up in prison because of him!"

Steven shook his head. "No. Jake wouldn't hurt anybody he didn't have to, I'm sure," he defended, but he couldn't be too sure. After all, Marc was right. It had been Jake who had gone on the killing spree (twice) in Cairo. He had Marlene, after all, and Marlene had never said anything ill about Jake.

"I... No. There's something familiar about him. Like I knew him once. And I... I can't remember. My brain is so fucked up." Marc shook his head, then out of anger, punched the tree behind them. Steven flinched, and Marc stood up, wanting to be away from Steven. "I can't do it, Steven. I can't meet that guy." Because they were in their Innerworld, punching the tree didn't leave a mark, but based on how Marc was rubbing his knuckles gently, Steven suspected it left some sort of phantom pain.

Steven made after him, refusing himself to give up on this. "Marc, you have to. I can't do this alone. I need you."

"Yeah, right. You were doing fine before you knew I existed. You were living your own life, content as could be. I'm the one who fucked it up for you. You never needed me. You've said it yourself. Everything I touch, I ruin. You're better equipped to handle this. Leave me out of it."

Steven grimaced hearing his own words thrown back at him. "My life was a bloody mess before I met you. I thought you were messing things up but you were really fixing things. I could never have survived without your intervention, I just didn't know it at the time." Marc stopped walking, but didn't turn to look at Steven. "I need you, Marc. I need you more than you know." Finally, Marc sighed and turned around to face Steven, who was on the verge of crying. "I'm sorry I can't do more to protect you," Steven admitted softly. "But I think... I think Jake wants to protect you, too."

Marc's gaze softened and Steven was glad for his convincing pouty face that people seemed to always feel sorry for. "...Okay. I'll do it. I'll meet him."

Steven's face quickly perked up into a grin, and he hugged Marc, who returned the embrace with a small chuckle. "Cheers, mate! I knew I could convince you."

He took Marc's hand and led Marc back towards the front of the headspace.

When Steven woke up, finding himself wearing his Mr. Knight suit in a dark alley was not what he had been expecting. He blinked, and noticed a man standing across from him with a bloody mouth staring at him. "Go back to sleep, little worm," he hears, and oh. He recognized that voice.

"Khonshu?" He asked, and the man in front of him started running away.

"Jake Lockley, do not let him get away!"

"Jake? What's Jake got to do with this?"

Suddenly, Steven was no longer fronting, and he watched from Jake's eyes as they chased down the man with the bloody mouth, the suit changing around them from Mr. Knight to some sort of alteration of Marc's suit with more black on it. "Steven, now is not a good time, hermano!"

"Jake? What the bloody hell is going on?"

Jake tackled the man, punching his jaw as they fell to the ground. "¿De verdad pensaste que podrías alejarte de mí?" Jake asked the man, holding a crescent blade to his neck. "Realmente eres estúpida entonces."

There was genuine fear in the man's face, and Steven pushed to the front to avoid the man's death. It worked, and when Steven realized he was fronting again, he dropped the man and the blade he was holding. "Have you learned your lesson?" He asked the man, and the man nodded enthusiastically. "Good. Now go," he said, and the man ran away again. It took everything in Steven not to stare at the liquid dripping out of his pants.

"Stevie! Hijo de puta!" Jake said from inside the headspace. "You let him get away! You know how long it took for me to find that asshole?"

Steven considered letting the suit fall away from him, but he was in a rough neighborhood and figured it probably wouldn't be a good idea to show his face around there, especially if any of the men around there decided to take revenge against Jake (or on who they thought was Jake. Marc might have been able to take care of himself, but Steven really didn't feel like getting his shit rocked, thank you very much) for beating up their friend. "It's Steven. And Marc and I made a deal. We don't kill people with this body, got it, mate?"

"Yeah? Well I wasn't a part of any deal and that man was a straggler of Harrow's gang of cultists. He deserved to die. They all do."

Steven didn't know how to respond to that. He could feel Marc's presence as well as Jake's in the headspace, and yikes. Not a great first impression. "Marc's here," Steven said.

He could feel Jake tense in the headspace, and Steven let Marc take over, his alteration of Khonshu's armor taking shape around their body. "What's with the suit?" He asked, clearly the question that Jake did not want to hear, because Steven felt Jake's presence slip away.

"Hm. Very interesting," a voice said, and Marc looked up to see Khonshu sitting on a rooftop.

Steven fronted again. "You slimy bugger. You swore you'd set us free!"

"And I kept my word. You have not seen me since then, have you?"

"But you kept our body. You're still using Jake, aren't you?"

"The fate of Jake Lockley was not a part of our agreement," Khonshu said, and Steven immediately felt guilty. Despite not knowing about Jake at the time, him and Marc had known there was someone. They should have negotiated on his behalf, but they hadn't, and now they were paying the price for it.

Marc took over again and gave Khonshu a glare that would have killed any mortal. "You knew about him and didn't tell us."

"It was not my place to say."

Again, a true statement. As much as Steven hated the fucker, he was very clever.

"Personally, I am more interested in the fact that you can still summon the suit. I assumed once I had released you, the suit would work only for Jake Lockley."

Steven fronted again, and immediately noticed a headache coming on. "But our body is still being used as your avatar, is it not?"

"But your soul is not. It is how I was able to release you both."

"Yes, but... well, I was still able to summon the suit despite Marc being chosen as your avatar rather than myself."

"Hm. Perhaps I have much to consider."

And, with that, the bird vanished.

"Yeah. Jake would never hurt a fly," Marc sassed.

"Oh bugger off. Can you just take us home?"

Steven switched out and let Marc take over as they walked home, keeping the suit on until they were back in the flat. Marc let the suit fall away and sighed. "Well. That was eventful."

Steven just hummed in the headspace. He knew there was a conversation to be had in the morning, but he was far too tired to deal with it at the moment. He hoped that Jake would actually be willing to speak to them when it came to it, but who knew with that man.

"Goodnight, Steven," Marc said, lying in bed and restraining their ankle, simply out of habit at this point.

"Goodnight, Marc."

Steven was shaken until he woke up, still groggy. His first instinct was that it was Layla shaking him, since she was the only one with a key to their flat, but when Steven opened his eyes, it was Jake that was staring back at him. He had never seen Jake before, but based on the mustache and the silly flat cap he was wearing on his head, he knew that was who it had to be. He didn't think he had ever woken up in the Innerworld before. Usually, when he woke up, he was thrown into the body or in the headspace, and waking up in the Innerworld was disorienting to say the least.

"Wake up, kid. I've got some explainin' to do."

Steven blinked sleep out of his eyes. "You're actually going to explain everything?"

"To you and Marc. I think I owe it to yous both."

Jake offered him his hand, and Steven took it, standing up. He was wearing the same navy blue jumper and the sweatpants that he had been sporting in the Duat, and Steven noticed that Jake was wearing the same outfit, only Jake's shirt was grey. He followed Jake through the house that was their Innerworld, over to where Marc's room was. Jake slammed open the door and shook Marc awake the same as he did Steven.

"Wait, if we're all three in here, who's in the body?" Steven asked.

"No one. It's resting. Time moves faster in here than it does out there, though, so we gotta hurry up and get this done before you miss work," Jake replied.

"Is there a reason we couldn't have had this conversation when we woke up?" Marc asked groggily.

Jake shrugged. "I'm more comfortable in here. That mirror shit weirds me out."

Marc and Steven shared a look, then shrugged and followed Jake out to the backyard where Steven had comforted Marc just the day before. Jake motioned for him and Marc to sit, and they did, looking up at Jake expectantly. The man sighed and ran a hand over the back of his neck. "Yous might not like me so much when you learn all this shit," he admitted.

"I already don't like you," Marc said.

"Oh shut it, Spector. Trust me, you and I aren't so different."

Steven could feel the tension and it was eating him alive. Marc pursed his lips, but he didn't have an answer to that.

Jake sighed. "Sorry. Just tense. I'm not used to this shit."

Steven nodded. "Go ahead, Jake. It's okay."

After a few moments, Jake spoke. "Okay. I'm Jake Lockley. I've been with you both since... well, the beginning I guess. I'm the protector. I protect both of your dumbasses from physical pain. I was the one who took all of the beatings that Wendy gave us as a kid." He stopped for a moment to breathe, then continued. "I didn't want you to know who I was because I was... afraid that you would hate me for... what I do. How I protect us. You're not supposed to see it. But Stevie just had to go sticking his fucking nose into my business-"

"Ah, I prefer Steven, actually."

Jake shot him a glare. "Yeah, whatever. Point is that you weren't supposed to know about me."

Marc cocked his head. "Yeah about that. How come I didn't know you existed? You are my alter, after all."

Jake looked at Marc, and if looks could kill, Steven was sure that Marc would simply keel over then and there. "Because you wanted to forget about me," Jake accused.

"Wha-"

"Putnam. You let that lady hypnotize you into forgetting me. You didn't want to know me, so I made sure that you didn't. Answer your question, Spector?" Marc and Steven shared a look, unsure of what to say to that. Jake shook his head and Steven noticed his fists clench and unclench in anger. "For awhile after... Marc split, we all knew each other. We talked to each other. All of us. That goddamn doctor fucked us up. Steven forgot both of us because he couldn't understand our condition. Marc forgot about me because he didn't understand the point of my existence. That left me, alone and confused. Marc was able to get Steven to sleep for awhile, but I was always there. Watching. Waiting. Fronting on the off occasion we needed it."

Marc's eyebrows furrowed, as if beginning to put the pieces together. "You... the fugue state. The one that got us discharged from the military. That was you. I blacked out and you took control. You went rogue."

Jake scoffed. "None of us were military material, Spector. You're just lucky Steven never fronted during that time or we would have been thrown right back in Putnam."

Steven blushed, admittedly glad that he knew nothing about their time in the military. He remembered a time when they were on the middle school debate team how he had gotten into a very heated debate over pacifism. He stance had obviously changed a bit, but he doubted that even now he'd be able to stomach the killing and violence that came with being a part of the military.

Marc crossed his arms, waiting for Jake to continue. "I have no regrets about that. I do have regrets about letting you go back to work for Bushman."

"Were we left much of a choice?"

Jake shrugged. "Maybe not. But if we hadn't, we wouldn't have ended up here."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Steven chimed in. "I mean, yeah, sure, we've been through some shit, and having Khonshu around is not ideal- which by the way is something we also need to talk about- but we all know about each other now. Marc and I have Layla, and you have Marlene. With a little one on the way! Surely that counts for something."

Marc offered him a small smile and Jake just scoffed. "Yeah. Maybe yous are right. Don't mean I have to to be happy 'bout it, though."

"Jake, I promise that now that we know about you, we will do everything we can to accommodate for you, yeah?" Steven looked up at the man longingly. "We care about you as much as you care about us. We are all headmates, and... well that means we're basically brothers, dunnit?"

Finally, Jake cracked a smile. "Alright, Stevie. You've made your point."

"It's Steven."

"Right."

Marc crossed his arms. "That still leaves one question."

"Khonshu?"

"Khonshu."

Jake rolled his eyes. "After he released you idiotas, he came to me and practically begged me to stay as his avatar. I uh... owed him. So I really had no choice but to say yes. I've been trying to just work nights and weekends, but occasionally there's a job that just can't wait and I'll be forced to take over for a day. I'm sorry about that, by the way." He rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly feeling genuinely guilty.

Marc raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean you owed him?"

"Khonshu, well. He saved Marlene's life. Or... I guess you saved her life, but you were wearing Khonshu's suit."

"I did?"

Jake nodded. "The dig site. Marlene's father was very close with Layla's father. I knew both of them because I was dating Marlene at the time. After she was saved, she disappeared, and I didn't even try to look for her until after all that shit happened in Cairo. Layla was the one who helped me find her."

"You... knew Layla's father?" Marc asked, and Steven wondered if the guilt was beginning to consume him again.

Jake nodded again. "Yeah. Well, kinda. I knew him in passing. Never really was close with him like I was with Marlene's father." He sighed. "I miss them every day, though."

Steven stood, then, and wrapped Jake in a hug. He could feel Jake's tension and hesitation, until slowly, the man leaned into his embrace. "You have us, now," Steven whispered, and Steven could feel the other man nod into his shoulder.

"Thank you," Jake whispered. "Thank you for giving me purpose."

Steven didn't really know what Jake meant by that, and that there were probably still things the man was keeping from them, but Steven nodded anyway. Unless they were to have another experience like him and Marc had in the Duat, Steven doubted they would ever learn everything there was to learn about Jake Lockley. That was okay, though. Steven was used to being left in the dark, and last thing he wanted to do was make Jake uncomfortable.

When Jake pulled away, he quickly wiped his eyes, and Steven held back a smirk. "Yous better go. You'll be late for work," Jake insisted. "I'm gonna... sleep for awhile. If that's okay."

Steven nodded, then looked back at Marc, who also nodded. "Cheers, mate. You know where we'll be if you need us."

"Thank you. Goodnight, Steven Grant. Goodnight, Marc Spector."

"Goodnight, Jake Lockley," they said at the same time, then made their way to the body to get ready for work.