Misunderstandings

"Dammit Smith get that bastard!"

"I'm trying!!"

"We can't let him esca-"

"WOULD SOMEONE JUST PLEASE MAKE THOSE FUCKING ALARMS SHUT UP!"

"¡Voy a romperles la cabeza a todos!"

"What the fuck?! Wasn't he British just 5 minutes ago?!"

"That asshole is playing with us!
Just get him already!"

"Oh my God! Oh my God! He just killed Derrick!
Shoot him or something he is dangerous!
I repeat shoot on sight!"

"Fuck Fuck!"

"I have sight on him on hallway 3C.
Mary you copy?
Need reinforcemt in hallway 3C. Mary!"

"Mary is down! How is this possible?
The bullets don't work!"

"This guy gotta be some alien shit.
Did you see how his eyes glowed all white back then?"

"You're getting cra-"

"I saw it too!"

"Shit shit! He is running at me!
Fu-- gu- no pl- ease no! He- -e"

"Leo?! Leo awnser! Leo!"

"......Dejadnos en paz oficial..."

--------------

[New York, 5 hours before the incident]

'Wow Marc! This is amazing!'
Steven couldn't be happier.
First of, it was finally his time to use the body again after Marc and Jake had their turns.

After the Harrow incident they had come up with a kind of system or understanding on how to deal with each other without completely going crazy.

Steven had one day, a few months after they had officially met Jake, suggested the use of a shared journal.
To his surprise both Marc and Jake voted in favor of his idea and it was quickly set into motion.

Marc had brought a simple black journal and some colored pens.
Jake had immideantly claimed the red colored one while Marc wanted the simple blue one.
In the end he himself had gone for orange because it reminded him of the sunset.

And then they just wrote.
At the beginning it were mostly basic info and plans, warnings for Steven when Marc had to go on a mission or Jake went on a date.
It was refreshing.
He no longer had to worry about accidentally surfacing and not knowing where he was or who the surrounding people were.

He also noticed Jake and Marc getting more relaxed and happier each day and it made him happy to know his idea made a difference.

Over time, they started to talk with each other through the journal, telling stories of the things they experienced.

Steven usually told the others about the places he discovered in every new place of the world they were needed in by Khonshu.

One time his info actually proofed useful to one of the missions Marc was doing at the time, when a woman he had met that day turned out to be the crime boss of a human trafficker ring.
They had saved over 40 children and teenagers that evening, completing the mission weeks ahead.
That had earned Steven the old birds respect, he supposed, because after that Khonshu hadn't bordered him anymore. He had even called him by his name instead of worm or parasite.
It was refreshing.

Marc on the other hand, after getting comfortable with the idea, started to use the journal as a sort of private therapist (as private as one can be when sharing the same body). More often than not he complained about Konshu or about the missions in general, especially when he had to work togheter with others.
These were usually the times Jake would leave behind some quick drawing of Khonshu getting stabbed or run over by a taxi driver.
Steven found it- well he didn't really know what to think of it but Jake seemed to have fun, and they cheered Marc up, so why not.

He had long ago accepted that the 3 of them were vastly different in so many aspects and that he couldn't force them to be less violent and more like him.
But Steven thought that he liked them both better that way, as themselves.

Living with a split personality wasn't easy, especially after finding out that you were the stress ball imagination all along but after getting to know Marc and Steven things were easier.
He wasn't afraid or lost anymore.
Sure, sometimes the missions could be scary but at least he wasn't alone anymore.
He had his brothers (because that's what Marc and Jake were to him in the end), Layla and even Khonshu.
The old pigeon had grown on him over time.

Jake wrote the least of them all when it came to his own experiences, mostly commenting on the other entries with drawings, puns or threats of murder to whoever dared to mess with any of them.

It was charming in a way Steven couldn't explain.
He wasn't usually one for violence, which made sense considering his origin, but it made something warm appear in his chest when he thought of Jake protecting them all. Such a long part of his life was spent alone and vulnerable. It was great to have someone looking out for you.

The times Jake wasn't commenting their experiences he wrote about his own 'missions' or his time as a taxi driver. Throw in some drawings of the pretty ladies he met as well as some noted down dreams and you had his part of the journal.

What was really fascinating though was the fact that after they started to regularly use the journal it got easier for each of them to take back control, watch the events while not having the body and even to share it.

It happened some when in February while Steven was in control, walking down an empty street in Paris late at night. Marc had been exhausted and Jake 'asleep' in their minds, so he offered to take over, get them back to the hotel and get Marc some well-deserved rest.
The other had quickly agreed and soon fell 'asleep' too.

When Steven resurfaced everything was quite for once.
No voices in his head, no Khonshu posing dramatically on a roof, no fighting.
Just peace.
And even though a part of him missed the endless banter of them, it was something he wanted to enjoy for just a little longer.

That's why he chose one of the longer rounds to get back to their hotel, a decision which soon turned out to be wrong when a group of thugs appeared seemingly out of nowhere, encircling him.
When they attacked he was quickly overwhelmed despite some basic fight training he had with Layla.
It wasn't enough to hold them back, and he didn't want to use the suit without really needing it for a world-ending event like last time.

It was when one punch hit him right in the chest that he felt something in his mind awaken.
Jake.
And then his arm snapped out, fist hitting the jaw of his attacker, breaking it with a sickening crack.
After that he had let Jake take over completely, turning away as he beat the living shit out of the group of 7, only stooping after none of them had moved for at least 5 minutes.

Jake kept in control the rest of the evening, Marc still asleep and himself not wanting to surface right now.
But Steven had stayed awake the entire time, talking to Jake about the experience of sharing the body, asking how he had been able to control his right arm.

Jake, although slightly annoyed at the Brits endless questions, was curious himself, answering every question of his alter.
Because Steven was the smart one, the one of them that could perhaps figure out how a shared body was possible.

In the end they still weren't really sure how it was possible but Marc ,upon getting filled in, wrote it off as them getting more comfortable with each other.
Maybe he was right.
They were getting more comfortable with the concept of sharing after all.

Steven huffed out a laugh.
So much had changed ever since discovering Marc all those months ago.
He was ashamed to admit it but at the beginning he had often wished to get rid of Marc, not wanting all this mess in his life...
But now?
Now he was happy to have them, them all.
They were his family in a way, this is just the way they are. And that's alright.

Some people said it wasn't real, that Steven and Jake weren't real.
But who were they to judge?
Life is just in illusion anyway just like time.
And when Egyptian gods, Infinity Stones and what not were real, why not them too?

That was the argument Jake brought up one day when he was fronting with Steven having an identical crisis in the background.
It had been oddly plausible to him.

Anyways...

It's been detoxing, really, to have open communication.
No secrets, no waking up in weird places and no sleep problems anymore.
Life was great.

And right now, life was even greater!
Steven could giggle out loud, but he didn't want to be stared at by the other museum visitors, so kept quiet, only talking in his mind.

'Jake, Marc, just look at this!
The real tomb of Ahkmenrah! Even his tablet is here.'

"Ah yes, Ahkmenrah. I remember him and his parents. The boy was the kindest ruler the land of Egypt had ever seen and one of my most devoted followers."

At the deep voice of Khonshu Steven almost whirled around but kept still in favor of not seeming insane.

But it made him think about the young pharaoh.
From what the old pigeon said he sounded like a nice guy.

"Wish I could've met him." , he mumbled softly.

"Would be cool right?", piped up a voice next to him all of the sudden.

Steven startled, letting out a short scream and jumping to the side.
Next to him stood an average looking man with a apologetic smile on his face.

"Sorry didn't mean to startle you. I'm Larry the night guard."

She shook the hand Larry offered him, now noticing his clothes which quickly identified him as the night guard he claimed to be.

"Night guard? Isn't it a little early for that?
It's only - he looked at his watch - 1 pm."

Larry chuckled.
"Yeah I'm needed early today because a coworker got sick. So I'm doing both shifts tonight."

"Isn't that exhausting?!"

"It's fine.
I love my job, history is just fascinating, and besides, I get paid double."
He winked at Steven and said his goodbyes after someone down the hall had called his name.

"Huh. Nice guy."

Marc huffed inside his mind.
'He reminds me of you.'

--------------

[New York, 3 hours before the incident]

After they had left the museum Steven decided to just wander around the streets of New York, exploring a bit and trying some of the food that was sold at every corner.

The best thing he had tried were the sandwiches from Delmar's Deli-Grocery, a place in Queens.
Excellent stuff.

He had even seen Spiderman swing around in Queens, waving at the people in the streets.
What a day!
Marc had told him to calm down, saying that they were superheros as well.
Then Khonshu showed up saying how they weren't like those silly superheros in their bright costumes but rather his fist of vengeance.
After that a fight between the two broke out with Jake laughing his ass off in the background.

He tried to ignore it but it was barley working.
(Damn you Khonshu for being able to hear thoughts!)

It was then ,while being distracted, that he wandered into an alley, hearing some strange sounds coming from an empty looking building a few houses away.
He cautiously looked around before slowly walking closer to the door, the sounds getting louder with every step he took.

'Guys? This feels shady...
Do you think I should check it out?
Maybe someone needs help.'

Abruptly the fighting stopped and Marc spoke up, sounding worried:
'OK but be careful Steven.
And don't use the door, try to find another way, maybe a window or something.'

'I can front if you want Steven.'
Jake offered at the same time, ever the protecting type.

"No I can do this. I'm Mr. Knight.
Besides, the fighting lessons from Layla have been great, would a waste to never use them."

Khonshu stayed silent while Steven tried to find another way in.
He then spotted a window he could easily access with the help of a dumpster beneath it.

With a little climbing and good jump he entered the building.
It seemed to be some kind of abandoned office complex, the room he entered having several office desks placed next to each other.

Steven whirled around.
There was that sound again and it sounded like voices, but they were getting quieter, as if the people talking were walking away.

He quickly walked in the direction of the voices walking down a long hallway.
By the time he stopped right in front of a door with the words 'only authorized personnel allowed' written on it the voices were gone and with them the people as well he guessed.

"No need for confrontation then hehe..."
He chuckled nervously, a bad feeling making itself known, causing him to sweat.

"Can't turn back now..."
And with that he opened the door, stepping into a big hall filled with-

'Fuck!" Marc screamed inside his head while Jake started cursing in Spanish.

And him?

He threw up right then and there because in the middle of the room 3 fresh corpses laid on the ground, staring lifeless at the ceiling.
As he looked closer he noticed that all 3 were children.
2 girls and 1 boy, all in the age of 12 to 17.

"I could've saved them...
If- if I had been faster I could have-"
He choked out.

Steven could already feel Jake and Marc trying to protest but before they could say anything, a hand laying down on his shoulder caught his attention.
As he looked up he saw Konshu staying behind him, a steady presence in this chaos.

"These souls were long lost before you came here my son.
I can feel that their death has been several hours ago.
The scum that committed this crime must have stayed to gloat about their sin if they only left a few moments ago. You are not blame."

He didn't respond but leaned in closer, accepting the gods comforting gesture.

'We should bury them.
They deserve to have a decent rest, not rotting in some empty hall.'

'Jake's right. We shouldn't leave them here.'

"Yes...yes. Sorry I'm just-"

"FREEZE! Put your hands up where I can see them you scum!"

Steven whirled around, arms automatically raised in the air only to see several police officers at the same door he had come trough, all pointing their guns at him.

Shit.