━━ CHAPTER EIGHTEEN / attacked kaylea

The plans to go out with Kaylea had been thrown out the window when Kaylea unexpectedly hit it off with some guy she knew. Ronny didn't mind really. If Kaylea was happy - which she seemed to be - then so was Ronny. They had spent most of the past few days together so it was probably a good break from each other.

However, the text hadn't come through until she was already at the Italian place. Then, Ronny had been caught unaware by Harrow's men. The scarab had been stolen and they wanted to know if she had it. She didn't and even when that became abundantly clear, they didn't give up. She hadn't been prepared for a fight but she managed to get out with a few bruises and a slash to her thigh that was bleeding. A lot. She could barely think straight as she pushed herself to her feet. The alleyway had been secluded so nobody had seen the debacle. The men had disappeared and she was alone and in pain.

As she stumbled out of the alleyway, she looked around trying to work out where exactly she was. She had been walking aimlessly away from the Italian restaurant after cancelling the reservation and she wasn't even sure where she was anymore. If she could make it home before she passed out from pain and blood loss, that would be ideal but she wasn't anywhere near home. The pain was the worst she'd felt in so long but she was trying to push it away. Forget about it as she pushed off of the building and limped down the street.

It hit her in that moment that she was a street away from Steven's apartment. It was a mistake to go like this but she had nowhere else to go. There was no way she could go to the hospital, get a bus, get a taxi. Nobody would allow her into a taxi or a bus and an ambulance would be too long and she'd have to explain how she got the cut which she had no energy to do and it would have to be a lie which just felt wrong. So she used the wall as support and began to hobble down the street. 

Tears blurred her vision and she pressed on the buzzer for Steven's apartment, "Steven, I need help. Please," Her voice cracked as she leant against the wall. The blood soaked her jeans and she felt faint. Her head spinning and nausea hit her like a truck as she pressed her forehead against the cool brick of the building. The door then buzzed open and she pushed herself inside. The walk to the elevator felt far too long but she pushed through the pain and got in.

By the time she reached his door, she felt like she was going to pass out. Though she wasn't sure if it was the blood loss or the pain that was making her feel so dizzy. She banged on his door and it swung open to reveal not Steven but Marc.

His stern look turned to concern in an instant when he surveyed her appearance. Blood smeared on her cheek along with a few bruises forming. The blood was dripping from the bottom of her jeans and onto her sneakers. He grabbed her arm, helping her inside and to a chair in the room. He locked the apartment door and walked over to the kitchen, frantic yet calm as he collected the first aid box from under the sink.

"Who was this?" He asked harshly as he looked down at her. Ronny pushed her hair out of her face, the tears beginning to trickle down her face despite her desperate want to push them away and keep up a brave face.

"Harrow's men. They wanted to make sure you had the Scarab." Her voice faltered as she spoke. The British accent she had initially put on lost now that she was sure it was Marc in the room with her. He pulled open the first aid kit as she explained and grabbed everything he'd need. Khonshu had become part of him long ago but he always kept supplies, out of habit.

"Did they get anywhere else?" He asked as he assessed how exactly to access her wound without hurting her more. He looked up at her from where he was now knelt on the floor in front of her. She shook her head.

"Just bruises." She mumbled. Marc pulled the knife from the side and went to cut her jeans but she grabbed his arm. It was a lazy grip but he pulled back, "Don't ruin them. These are my favourite jeans." Despite how weak she felt and how much pain she was in, her voice was still stern and he shook his head, disbelieving.

"I need to get to the wound. So I either cut them or you take them off," He snapped. Ronny then unbuttoned the jeans and did her best to try and shuffle them off. Marc had ruined too many of her clothes. He had ruined one of her favourite dresses when he shot her in the shoulder. That was never happening again. Marc put his hand out and took her sneakers and socks off. He then proceeded to help her take her jeans off and grabbed a blanket to throw over her lap before he got to work on her wound.

It was deep and around three inches in length. A knife slash that was a few inches from her femoral artery. She was lucky that they had missed and mostly caught her knee. She would have been dead in seconds if they had better aim.

Ronny just watched him, her eyes falling closed a few times, as he tended to the wound. He cleaned it and stitched it before wrapping it in a bandage to hopefully prevent any further bleeding and the stitches from popping. He wiped away the blood from her cheeks with a sterile wipe before he placed the supplies back into the box and knelt up, taking her face in his hands. He gently nudged her cheek, forcing her eyes to open to look at him. They were droopy and he frowned.

"When did you last eat?" He asked and Ronny shrugged. She was meant to go out for dinner but Kaylea had ditched. Ronny couldn't remember the last time she'd drunk anything either. Marc sighed, "Stay awake for me." Ronny nodded and watched as he walked over to the kitchen. He filled a glass with water and then searched the fridge, searching for anything iron-rich, "Spinach, really?" Marc mumbled under his breath.

He came back with the glass of water and she began to drink it, taking it slowly. He then got her another glass until she couldn't drink anymore without feeling like gagging. It made her feel a little better but her body still ached from the attack.

Not that she let that stop her as she pushed herself to stand up. She limped towards Marc, adjusting the blanket to wrap around her waist, and he turned around with a few ingredients in hand right into her. He stepped back and placed them down, grabbing her arm to take her back to sit down. But Ronny pulled back.

"You were there, weren't you?" She asked. Marc turned away and let go of her arm. He went to pick up the ingredients but she turned him around or tried to. He was stronger than her, especially now. Despite this, he turned around for her. She had only come up to him to make sure he didn't avoid the topic, not again.

"I know everything you've told him." Ronny nodded. That was to be expected and he just looked at her, conflicted. She nodded and stepped back, nearly collapsing from the weakness of her leg. He grabbed her by the waist and kept her upright, "He is yours. His life is none of my business," Marc added, for clarity. But it was the opposite. Steven's life was an integral part of his life, their lives.

"When I first flirted with you, I was doing it just to piss you off. But at some point that changed," Ronny confessed before she turned around and limped back to the sofa. She collapsed against the cushions and felt the intense want to sleep attempt to capture her but she knew she couldn't. She adjusted the blanket around her waist to cover her feet and stared off at the blank TV screen.

Coming here was a bad idea. If Marc hadn't been fronting then Steven would know everything and maybe that was a good thing but also, Marc would pull him away. He would do something that stopped whatever they had and that would be worse than confessing anything else stupid to Marc.

"Don't fall asleep. The remote is on the table," He said after a few beats of silence. Ronny nodded and leant forward, picking it up. She flicked through channels before settling on a documentary. She moved to lie down as Marc began to cook a meal for them both. They were quiet as he worked in the kitchen and Ronny stayed curled up on the sofa.

They had gone from killing each other one week to him taking care of her the next. It was disorientating but she knew it was just for Steven. Marc had given himself the duty to try and keep Steven's life as intact as possible. Making sure Ronny didn't die just seemed to be another part of it now.

At some point, Ronny slipped into sleep while waiting for Marc and he gently woke her up. Two plates of hot food on the table as Ronny blinked sleep from her eyes. Her throat felt strange, a bad taste left from the short nap. She pushed herself to sit up and looked at the food. It looked delicious but she didn't have much of an appetite.

"Could I use the bathroom?" Ronny asked. Marc nodded, gesturing towards the door that was ajar. She climbed to her feet and went into the bathroom, doing her business and washing her hands. The blanket - previously wrapped around her waist - now discarded on the floor as she tried to rub the sleep from her face. She glanced at the closed door before she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked pale and her face was a little bruised but she'd looked worse around him.

She glanced around for the toothpaste and picked up the tube, squeezing some onto her finger. She knew what she was about to do was probably wrong and she didn't even know what possessed her to do it but she wanted to, desperately. And if she was going to kiss Marc, she could at least have decent breath. Steven had not been given that privilege. She washed the toothpaste out of her mouth and looked at herself in the mirror, brushing the edges of her mouth before she nodded.

She flicked the bathroom light off as she wandered back out, holding the blanket around her waist to keep some modicum of modesty. She felt a little more awake and Marc was standing in the kitchen when she walked back out. He had a fork in his hand, the plate on the counter in front of him and his gaze was on the TV, watching the documentary that was still playing as he tried to eat the food he'd prepared.

"Marc," Ronny said and he lifted his head. His face was stern, as always, but he seemed to have softened slightly, "Do you know where Steven put those sweatpants I left here?" She asked. Marc slipped past her and went searching through his dresser before he pulled out a pair of her sweatpants. He passed them over and she slipped into them, adjusting them around her hips before she looked up at him. He hadn't moved from that spot.

Their faces were inches apart and she was trying to work out what he was thinking. It was always so difficult with Marc, part of her wanted to let out a quip and dissipate the tension but his look was intense and she couldn't piss him off, not now.

"I never meant to invade your life, Steven's life. It wasn't intentional," She said as she searched his face. Some honesty felt like the best course of action. He deserved the truth even if Steven couldn't have it.

"It seemed pretty intentional to me." His voice was rough but he didn't sound annoyed. Almost amused by her sentiment. She opened her mouth to try and give him some sort of explanation but had nothing to give. Her eyes fell to the floor and all possible responses flew through her head. None of them seemed right.

But then his lips were on hers and she didn't have to think of a response. His hands took a gentle hold of her cheeks as he pushed all his passion into that kiss. It was rough and much more experienced than Steven's but made her stomach flutter just the same. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down slightly as he pushed her against one of the book-covered tables. His tongue slipped into her mouth, exploring with practised motions that made Ronny flush. 

The intensity was far from what she had expected and nothing like what she was used to. Steven had been tentative and gentle, Marc was harsh and unrelenting. She pushed her fingers through his hair, gripping the hair at the nape of his neck which made him groan lowly. He returned the gesture by trailing his hand down to her ass, squeezing her ass cheek which made her moan gently. He swallowed the noise, keeping her chest pressed against his until they were both out of breath and she had to pull away, panting heavily. Their lips were kiss-swollen and he stared at her, the corner of his lips tilted up in a slight smirk.

"You planned this, huh?" He asked. Ronny shrugged, half-heartedly. The minty smell of her mouth was a dead giveaway that she had fully intended for this but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing. So she pulled him down into another kiss, dominating the kiss this time. However, before they could go any further, Ronny's phone rang. Her head snapped towards her jeans that had been left on the floor and her phone screen lit up. His lips were pressing soft kisses to her neck but she gently pressed against his chest and he stepped back. She slipped out of his arms and rushed over to her phone, turning it over. Kaylea's name and picture lit up her screen.

"I have to pick this up," Ronny said as she sat down on the floor. She clicked answer and pressed the phone to her ear as she listened to Kaylea's frantic words. None of it made much sense and she looked up at Marc, concern etched across her face, "Slow down, slow down," Ronny's British accent had returned flawlessly as she pushed herself carefully to her feet.

"I went to this guy's and he... he attacked me and my face is bleeding. Ronny, he tried to kill me. Where are... where are you?" Kaylea blubbered out, her words frantic. Ronny grabbed her sneakers from the floor and tried to push them on as she kept her phone in place, trapped between her head and her shoulder. The blood soaked the back of her sneakers but she didn't care.

"I'm at Ma-Steven's. Where are you? Are you near my place?" She asked as she glanced back at the brunette. He seemed just as concerned as she did.

"No, no, I'm near the Red Lion on Rogers Street. I don't know what to do. He mentioned you, what the fuck have you done? Oh my God, Sam is here," The relief that filled Kaylea's tone calmed Ronny's racing heart as she shoved her other foot into her trainer.

"Stay with Sam, okay? I'm going to come and get you. Just stay with her, please. Do not go anywhere," Ronny ordered, "I'm going to hang up but I'll be there in ten minutes, okay?" Kaylea seemed to be talking to Sam and let out a soft 'yeah' in response before Ronny hung up. She put her phone in her sweatpants' pocket and looked up at Marc.

"Some maniac attacked Kaylea. I think it was someone linked to Harrow or- or- just, someone who knows me and what I do. They tried to kill her, they, fuck," Ronny's words were frantic and she tripped over her own words, "I need to go get her. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this- for this to happen tonight. I didn't even plan- I didn't want to invade your- your night either," Ronny's heart was thumping in her chest and she could feel the panic. She had to move, she had to keep moving, "I just, I need to go to her. She's going to have questions. They mentioned me and, and I just, I need to sort this out. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't- I didn't," Ronny glanced up at Marc and he had a frown on his face. He had never seen her in such a state even after the missions they had been on. She blubbered and he could feel the panic radiating off her. He felt the want to lecture her about putting those she loved in danger but he didn't say a word.

"Go, do what you need to." Ronny nodded practically sprinted out of her apartment when she had pushed the locks open despite her shaking hands.

She could have gotten a bus but that would be five minutes and then a 15 minute drive and she knew she could run to Rogers Street faster. It wasn't a long walk from here and even with the injured leg, she knew she could run pretty fast.

Kaylea needed her and she wasn't going to fail her. She put her in danger and it was her responsibility to make sure she was okay now.

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NOTE 
okay! this is the longest chapter so far and damn... a lot happened, i didn't know whether i was gonna have them kiss in this yet, but they did :) i hope you enjoyed! also a little bit of a cliff-hanger hehe