Marc Spector sat silently on the edge of the hotel room’s double bed as he listened to Layla turning on the shower inside the small bathroom. In one ear he could hear Steven murmuring quietly to himself on the windowpane while the other was kept open incase anyone tried to barge their way into the room.
However, his thoughts were in a completely different place. Khonshu, the god who had stuck with him for years, was now gone. He had sacrificed himself just so they had a chance to try stop Arthur Arrow from resurrecting Ammit. Marc hated Khonshu. He was always threatening Layla and trying to force him to kill practically everyone around him, but the god had saved him. Gave him salvation and rose him from the dead.
What has surprised him the most was what Steven had said to him after. Khonshu trusted him, Marc Spector who was an international criminal and mercenary, to save him. The bird who had always gone on about how he would end Marc if things weren’t done to his satisfaction believed in his enough to place his existence in his hands.
Marc was brought out of his head as he focused back onto the shower inside the bathroom, trying to calm down and distract himself from the thoughts occupying his mind. It was them he made eye contact with Steven, who was still talking out loud to himself and not realizing he now had an audience.
“I mean, yeah you want to stop millions of people from dying. Hey, I can even understand that! They were a bunch of child murderers and who knows what else they’ve done but was so much bloodshed really needed?” Steven complained as he walked side to side in the glass of the window, his reflection remaining strong as he vented,” Like those three guys. Did you need to kill them? It was so brutal and then you have the nerve to ask my why I killed them? Bloody hell!”
“Steven, you did kill them,” Marc said and the alter swiveled around to face him, a look of anger plastered onto his face as he pointed a finger at him.
“No I didn’t! Mate, you are the one who did! I watched the whole fucking thing. You stole a car and loading them up inside in front of that crowd in the market before taking them up to that cliff,” Steven cried out as he ran a hand through his hair.
Marc glanced back towards the bathroom door, relieved to find it still closed and the shower water still rushing out. He looked at Steven and raised an eyebrow,” Look, Steven. I didn’t kill them, you forced your way into the body and switched with me.” It felt like he was explaining this to a child and the very thought of that made him want to groan.
Steven looked as if he was about to retort before stopping short. The man opened his mouth before closing it again, then let out an annoyed yell. “Nah. Marc do you honestly think I would take control just to kill them? I let them go minutes before it even happened you idiot!” He spoke.
The other had nothing to say. Steven was right. Why would he let them go just to kill them once he regained control? It just didn’t make sense. Plus, Steven seemed to hate the whole murder thing too. Nothing made sense since Steven Grant had discovered him and Khonshu though. Marc forced his thoughts away from the banished Egyptian god, he couldn’t think about the loss he felt for someone he had always hated. His conscience chanted about how many times Khonshu had healed and protected him as he tried to block it all out.
He let out a groan. “But if you didn’t kill them and I didn’t,” He muttered and could feel Steven’s full attention on him,” Then who the hell did?”
Steven froze at what Marc was implying. They both made eye contact as the idea bloomed, watching to see if they both had the same thought process.
“You’re not saying?” Steven stuttered out as his eyes finally left Marc’s just to frantically look around.
Marc could only nod before replying,” There is another here in us.”
It was then low laughter erupted. Both of the alters froze at the noise. It was a dry chuckle, and it was coming from the elongated mirror stashed away in the corner of the room. What stepped into the frame was another alter who looked similar to the two of them, just with a few more features added. A mustache covered this new alter and Steven grimaced at it slightly. There was a lone cigarette in one hand that had smoke emitting from it, but the fog wouldn’t leave the mirror along with a hat sitting on top of his head.
Marc gritted his teeth at the different appearance. From what he knew, it wasn’t unusual for alters to look different when not in control of the body but this new one still looked vaguely similar to Steven and him. It made sense that he and Steven would look the same. He was the host, he had lived his whole life with this face and body, and Steven hadn’t known about their disorder for years so it made sense he too would feel most at ease looking the same as the body.
Clearly this new alter didn’t get the memo.
“Hello,” The alter waved his cigarette in some form of greeting and only Steven awkwardly waved back,” I’ve been waiting until one of you numbskulls realized there were more than just you two in this body.” He brought the lit cigarette up to his lips and inhaled slowly, eyes solely focused on the two of them.
Steven flinched at the insult. He hadn’t even known there were more than just him up until a few weeks ago.
The alter widened his eyes slightly. “Oh shit, I wasn’t targeting you, Stevie,” Marc raised his eyebrows at the nickname,” By the way, how did that date with that girl go? She was hot, right?”
The alter in the window choked while Marc looked at the two confused. “Wait, what date? Who the hell are you?” He was no longer sitting on the foot of the bed but instead slowly making his way up to the mirror with an irritated expression.
The man with the mustache only grinned, showing off his teeth. “That tour guide. What was her name? D something? Anyway she was smokin’ hot, right, and Stevie needed to get out more,” He explained with a mischievous glint in his eyes,” Like, I love our one finned wonder as much as the next person but you needed to talk to some actual people apart from that bitch Donna and that weird security guard.”
Marc was frozen in place as he looked between the two alters. It seemed as if they were just ignoring him now. The new alter continued speaking,” You can’t have honestly thought Marc would have asked her out! He’s married.”
“Her name was Dylan,” Steven commented,” And, uh-, Gus is kind of dead now?” He said the final part with a defeated air around him and Marc had to fight to not flinch at the reminder of the fist he had accidently killed.
“What?” Was all the alter said as he dropped the cigarette to the mirror floor.
Steven grimaced,” Yeah, um, Gus is dead now.”
The alter’s eyes swerved to Marc with an angry look. “Did you murder Gus?” He accused and didn’t wait a response,” Fuck you man! I loved that little guy. Gus was great, did you know he could tell us apart? Aw, I was so excited when I fronted after who knows how long! I thought I was gonna see my little buddy but then I find myself in the middle of a fight. Now Gus is dead?!”
All Marc could think was that this man might have cared more for that goldfish that Steven did.
Steven smiled awkwardly,” We have a Gus 2.0 now?”
“Does he have one fin?”
At the shake of the head, the alter groaned. “Well, I guess you can’t have everything in life. When life gives you another Gus, you keep him,” He was now just sprouting nonsense.
Marc was the one to interrupt their exchange. He looked at the new alter with shock,” You’re the one who killed those people?”
The man stopped for a second and then sort of shrugged. “I mean, you two were fighting each other for control and I kind of wanted a go, you know? Didn’t expect to come out to a fight,” He explained,” Those guys were really fucking funny though. They kept doing this shit with their knives – licking them and other odd stuff – but I got bored kinda quickly. So I decided a minor kidnapping would be cool.”
Steven choked while Marc looked up to the ceiling in wonder. What the hell had he done to be stuck with this? Couldn’t he go back to when he was just completing Khonshu’s missions and ignoring everything else that went on around him?
“You thought kidnapping those men would be cool?” Steven’s voice was at a high pitch and one glance at the window told Marc how stressed the man was at the information.
The man in the mirror nodded as if he couldn’t tell how Steven was reacting to this. “Yeah, but then they started getting fidgety. One escaped the bonds and I had to use his knife to kill him, then another did and then I lost control again,” He finished his small recollection.
“How long have you known about all of this?” Marc whispered as he stared him down.
The alter blinked before chuckling. “Oh sweetheart, I’ve known about everything from the very start. Especially from that dig sight all those years ago.”
The mercenary gritted his teeth at the reminder of the horrifying day, trying to ignore the memories that rushed back and also the thought of Khonshu. “How do we know we can trust you?” He asked with a growl.
“I’ve gone this long without tattling, calm those ruffled feathers, darling,” The man replied nonchalantly as he looked between the two of them,” Khonshit also got me to do a few of his missions for him too. Not a fan, let me tell you!”
Steven had to hold back his laugh at the nickname, slapping his hand over his mouth to stop any noise from escaping it. Marc also looked surprised at the news; he had always thought it was him Khonshu went to. Now he had to wonder how many times the god of justice had called onto this other alter to kill someone or to steal something.
“What’s your name?” Steven asked after he had calmed down, eyes solely focused on the man in the other reflection.
“Jake, Jake Lockley at your service.”
It was then the door opened, and Marc was shocked out of the conversation he had having with the two others he shared this body with. Layla walked out with a towel wrapped around her body, all of her hair wet. A look of concern flashed across her face at seeing her husband standing in the middle of the room staring at the floor length mirror.
She silently walked up to him. “Were you talking with Steven?” She asked and smiled at the mirror.
Marc cringed before turning around to fully face the woman he loved (also the one he knew Steven was half in love with already). “It’s complicated,” he said awkwardly eyes darting back and forth between Steven in the window and newly named Jake in the mirror.
Layla only raised an eyebrow. “I thought we had just been over this, Marc. Just tell me the truth, please,” She begged.
A sigh left his lips as he walked back to the edge of the bed and sat on it. Layla followed after him, sitting down gently next to him and grasping his hand. She squeezed it comfortingly and smiled at him.
“Turns out Steven and I aren’t the only ones,” Marc confessed.
Layla froze and didn’t say anything. He could see her thoughts running a mile per second as she remained silent. A few minutes passed and Marc’s anxiety grew, his hand that was in her beginning to tremble. She squeezed his hand tighter in response before saying anything. “How long have you known?”
“Steven and I only just figured it out right now,” He explained,” We didn’t know anything before this.”
“What’s his name then?” Layla held his hand,” And I’d also like to meet him too.”
Jake seemed to brighten up at this, a grin working its way up onto his lips. Steven smiled shyly at Layla; despite the fact she couldn’t see him.
“He’s called Jake Lockley,” The mercenary told her.
All Layla did was nod before enveloping the man into a hug. She pretended she didn’t notice how his body shook in her hold. “I’m sure I’ll like him as much as I like Steven and you,” She murmured, unaware of how much of an impact she had made on all of them as she comforted Marc.