━━ CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX / jake lockley

The storage unit was quiet as Ronny sat on the cot in the corner. She had suspected that Marc hadn't got rid of the unit but she never knew why. Now she did, he was still doing everything he had made a deal not to do. She had already given the artefact back to its rightful owner and it was just her, alone, sitting in the unit waiting for him to come back.

She knew that he would have to fly back and it was only a matter of time before he returned. Her body was still covered in cuts from the blades. The cut under her knee hurt the worst followed closer by the wound stabbed into her shoulder. It wasn't easy to clean up the cuts but she had done her best without Marc's help. Though she wasn't even sure if she wanted Marc's help anymore. He had been lying to her all this time.

Despite being determined to stay awake until she saw him, at some point, Ronny fell asleep because when she woke up, the lights were on and Marc was standing in the room. He was going through his storage unit of guns and she blinked against the harsh light. Her eyes took a moment to adjust before she sat up and looked at him, narrowing her eyes.

"You're a damn liar, Marc Spector." She wasn't sure what language to use so she stuck to English as she glared at the back of his head. He lifted his head to look at her and sneered. She went to stand up to do something but she quickly realised her hands had been tied to the cot. She pulled against it but to no avail. He could tie a decent knot at least.

"Stop calling me that." He was sticking to Spanish and he sounded angry. She rolled her eyes and tugged on the rope.

"It's your name. Now let me go and we can sort this out like adults." She snapped as she pulled on the rope again. This was not what she had expected to wake up to. Rope was something that they used but not like this and not usually without consent. But all of that felt pointless now. All that love and he had been lying to her face for weeks.

She just didn't understand how he was able to hide it from her so easily. The no bruises made sense but it had been weeks since he'd disappeared for days on end. She had been disappearing regularly but he kept up contact even then. It didn't make sense. None of this made sense.

"You need to understand something, Cariño. I am not one of your boys and they cannot know about me," He snapped as he stepped closer. Ronny furrowed her eyebrows as she looked up at him. This didn't make sense. He didn't make sense. She shuffled back against the wall and he only moved closer to her, "This will be our little secret, mhm?" Another lie that she was being forced to tell. She couldn't tell if that made her want to scream or cry or maybe a bit of both.

"I'm not lying to them again." She knew she didn't have any of the power here but she was going to try. It had been exhausting lying to Steven. It had caused so many problems and she couldn't do that to both of them.

"You have no choice, Cariño. You lie to them or you die," He shrugged. Ronny tilted her head back and let out a soft sigh. So, there was a third alter. She knew she was right. She had been right all along. It wasn't just Marc. It was someone else. Someone who seemed to hate her no matter what she did.

"Give them back to me." Ronny snapped as she pulled on the rope. He stared at her for a long moment, scrutinising her face. He then leant over and untied the rope around her wrist. He stepped back and then Marc seemed to come back. His posture softened slightly and he turned around to find Ronny sat in the corner. He sent her a soft smile.

"I didn't know you'd be here." He said. His tone conveyed his slight confusion but he did his best to hide it from her. She cleared her throat and moved to sit up.

"I thought you might have some medical supplies. I ran out at home," She lied through her teeth to him, trying to act natural. There was a third alter but how was she supposed to tell that to him? Would he even believe her? And would she even live to see the next day if she did admit the truth to him? Was it even her place? She didn't really know.

"Oh, uh," Marc turned around and went searching through a few cabinets before he pulled out a medical supply kit. He lifted it up and she sent him a pained smile. She reached out to grab it but he pulled it back, "Is there something wrong?" Ronny shook her head.

"No, no, I just need them," She mumbled. But he knew something was wrong. He had found it easier and easier to see through her facade the longer that they stayed together. He hated that he didn't know what was wrong, "My arm really hurts, Marc. Can you just give it here?" She snapped. It was only a half-truth. Her arm did hurt but she also wanted to get away from this place and him, she needed room to breathe for a moment.

"Show me." It was yet another demand. He was no longer requesting to know what was wrong. He wasn't giving her a choice and she wanted to fight back against him but she was too tired to even try. So she pulled her jacket off and sat down on the bed. Her injured shoulder on show to him. There was a bloody bandage haphazardly pressed on top of it but it wasn't done properly or well. Marc narrowed his eyes before he shook his head, "I'll rebandage it." Ronny nodded and he walked over.

He peeled back the bandage and the cut was seemingly becoming infected. The skin was perfectly sliced open and Ronny had at least managed to remove most of the blood from the cut. He didn't know many blades that could make such clean cuts and it worried him that his own blade was one that could. The worry was only made worse by the fact that he had forgotten most of the past few days. Steven didn't seem to remember it either.

Marc dropped the med-pack onto the bed and then began to sort through. He grabbed anti-bac cream and wipes, wiping the cut off and then applying the cream. Ronny tried not to flinch at the pain it caused her and Marc tried to be as kind as he could. Then he reapplied the bandage and closed the med-pack, sitting down next to her.

"I'm really tired, Marc. I don't want to talk about it." She knew he would ask about the mission if she didn't make it abundantly clear that she was in no mood. He had a look on his face that worried her. It was like he knew something was up but she didn't need the questions or the worries. All she wanted was to be in bed and asleep. It was easier to deal with.

"Well, let's go home then." Ronny debated it for a moment before she sighed and forced a smile onto her face.

"That sounds perfect." She knew that she was only appeasing him but she didn't know what else to say. She couldn't tell him and she didn't know how to explain away the injuries yet. She needed more time to think about it and she really needed to sleep. The past few days have been constant jet lag and fighting. Her body was screaming for some proper rest. They could talk about everything that had happened later.

They had to talk about what happened later.

-

Marc had done all he could for the wounds and she had lied her ass off about who gave her the cuts. These lies had at least seemed convincing and with a soft kiss, Marc disappeared. It left Steven to front for the rest of the night and he made dinner before they got in bed together. Steven always cuddled her closely at night and she was somewhat thankful for it. Her anxiety around the pair had subsided for now. Whoever it was that threatened her, wasn't them. It was another alter and she didn't really know how to deal with it.

She couldn't bring it up to them. Marc refused to even admit that he had been blacking out when she knew for a fact that he had. So, she just let it be. She knew that Marc would want to live in his ignorance and she would let him, for now.

It wasn't hard for Ronny to fall asleep in Steven's arms but as always nightmares had woken her up in the dead of the night. She had gotten a few hours but between the nightmares and the anxiety around the third alter, she couldn't sleep. Her mind was thinking and overthinking. It was hard to even pick a single thought to focus on, they were moving that quickly.

So, she got up. There was a park a few streets over and it was late enough that it would be empty. A walk would do her good and she could just sit on a bench and think. It had always been her way of calming down when she was younger.

The note she wrote was short 'GONE FOR A WALK TO PARK ON WILMINGTON ST, SHOULD BE BACK SOON, LOVE U x'. She left the note on the bed side table and then grabbed her long coat, pulling it on. She put her phone in her pocket and then headed out of the apartment. Most women she knew wouldn't dare go out for a late night walk but she knew she could hold her own against anyone. It made it easier and Steven's neighbourhood was relatively safe.

The streets were eerily quiet as she wandered down towards the park. It was odd how silent the city was. London was not known to be a city that was very quiet. There was always something going over even during the Blip, it had been alive every single night.

But tonight, it was deadly silent. A part of her wandered if she was just imagining how quiet it was. Or maybe there was something going on that she just didn't know about. Some terrifying event that she had missed in her own little bubble.

If she was entirely honest, she didn't care what was going on outside. Her life was messy enough that any complaints that the rest of the world had were secondary. She had saved the world once this year, she was in no mood to save it for a second time. Ronny was tired. So so tired.

The park was quiet as she weaved down the paths. The kids play area was on the other side of the park and the swings suddenly looked appealing. She knew that she was an adult and shouldn't have been so excited about them but she was. So, she sat down. A grin spread across her lips as she swung. Her hands wrapped around the metal chains as she pushed herself up and down.

After a few minutes, she was becoming nauseous from the motion so slowed down and she glanced up, watching Marc as he came over. It took her a minute to recognise his shadow but she did, a small smile appeared on her face.

"I didn't expect you to come out," Ronny said as she rested her head against the metal chain. She looked up at him and he shrugged, sitting down on the swing,

"I wanted to." He insisted but his accent seemed slightly off. It was Marc's accent but she wasn't entirely sure if it was him. Part of her wandered if it was another alter mimicking him but if it was, why wouldn't they just say something? Maybe there were four alters and they were scared of admitting it. She wasn't really sure but she just played it off.

"It's a lot quieter than I thought it'd be tonight," She mumbled softly. She began to swing on the swings again, her feet pushing her back and forth slightly. Marc hummed in response and Ronny turned to look at him, watching his face for a moment, "Do you ever think how different your life would be if you just did one thing differently?" Marc snapped his head up but the soft smile on her face conveyed her genuinity. There was no malice in her words, it was just a question, "I think that if I'd never been taken to the Museum as a kid, I would never have gotten into archaeology and I never would have ended up here." Ronny knew she was rambling but she was tired and she wanted to. She felt comfortable around Marc or whoever this was.

"If I'd been a more responsible brother, a lot of things would have been different." There was a sense of self-loathing to his words but he wasn't looking at her. His gaze off in the distance, staring at the trees on the slowly lighting skyline.

"I try not to dwell on it though. Things I could have done," She knew that the past was a sensitive topic for both of them and her therapist had told her that dwelling too much on the past made you stuck in that time. The present was the most important time and then the future was the next important. The past was done, "I never would have met you if I hadn't gone through all that pain first." Her words had been something she had been dwelling over for weeks. The causation of her life was odd but she wouldn't have changed it for the world.

"It would have stopped your pain if it was different." There was something about his words that felt slightly off. Not that it wasn't something Marc would say but it felt just different. She knew that sitting next to her was someone else but it didn't scare her this time.

"I suppose," She shrugged before adding, "But women are born with pain built in. A little extra doesn't mean much." That was something that her mother had taught her. Women had periods, pregnancies, cramps, the menopause, constant and ever-changing emotions that sometimes felt too much to handle and men didn't. They didn't have most of those issues. Though in this modern world, not even all women had those issues and that was okay because those women had to live with just as much pain born from the hate of society. It was so complicated and thinking about it made Ronny's heart ache and head hurt.

Her face turned to a frown as she glanced across the skyline. Ronny's pain was built-in, biological and unavoidable but almost everything that Olive went through was man-made and Ronny could never, ever understand that. But it seemed Marc hadn't noticed how her thoughts wondered.

"I didn't mean to die." The words snapped her back to reality away from thoughts of her sister and herself. She turned her gaze back onto Marc and she shrugged.

"That wasn't your fault. It was Harrow."

"It scarred you." Ronny tried not to laugh at that. The past eight years had given Ronny a lot of scars, both kinds and it was ironic that he would mention that now after he no doubt gave her another one on her shoulder.

"A lot of things you have done scarred me. I would have left if I had a problem with that. It was all business," She tried her best to brush it off. She knew whoever had attacked her to get that artefact wasn't Marc. It was someone else, someone new and she was sure that the person sat across from her might be that same alter.

"Do I still scare you?" He asked. Ronny shook her head and turned her body to face him properly.

"No. Never." There was conviction to her words. She wasn't saying it to stop herself from being harmed, she meant it. But she also knew this was her chance, "I just don't appreciate the threats." It was a long shot, if this really was Marc, it could change everything. But she just knew it wasn't him. She just knew.

"I'm trying to protect myself," He responded. Ronny's eyebrows pulled together briefly and she turned away. She pushed her feet against the grass, making her swing, as she tried to deconstruct the statement. She opened her mouth and closed it again, trying to decide how best to go about this.

"You can't do that by hurting me," She glanced at him to see how he reacted but he didn't seem annoyed so she continued, "I'm over what we did in the past. We hurt each other a lot. I nearly killed you, you nearly killed me and that's fine. That's fine but right now, you can't keep trying to hurt me. I know you don't want to hurt me and you're trying to protect yourself from them finding out but I cannot and will not be your punching bag. They love me so much and I don't want to have to leave them because you are hurting me." The words spilled out of her mouth without her even really intending them too. Her thoughts were racing but her words were eloquent. She had put her foot down verbally without getting angry, which was exactly what was needed.

"You cannot punish them for my actions," He snapped but then his annoyance subsided when he met her gaze. He had switched to Spanish on automatic, giving up pretending. Ronny reached out for his hand and gently took a hold of it.

"As your partner, I am obligated to hold the entire system accountable for everyone's actions. It's not fair but it's how it is." Her tone was soft and she spoke in Spanish. She could see the anger bubbling beneath the surface and his eyes showed his annoyance. She took a tighter hold of his hand.

"You can't hurt them," He said. Ronny nodded and let go of his hand. She began to swing slowly again, distracting herself from the anger on his face.

"You're going to leave me with no choice," She responded softly. She didn't want to hurt any of them, not really. She loved them, "Do you know how many times your actions have left me terrified to be near them?" She asked curiously. He stared at her, his head rested against the metal chain of the swings.

"I'm sorry." Ronny glanced over at him and there was so much genuinity to his expression. The anger had melted away into sorrow and she paused her swinging.

"I don't know if you're even the one that was doing it," She confessed softly. He looked up and met her gaze. He didn't even have to say anything for her to know that it was him. He had been causing all this harm, "I will keep your secret but you have to stop hurting me."

"Okay." There was a little nod of confirmation and Ronny smiled. He looked almost like a kicked puppy and that made her heart twist. She had never seen this alter be so vulnerable. It was slightly terrifying.

"Thank you." She adjusted the sleeves of her coat, feeling slightly awkward before she looked up at him again, "What's your name?" She asked. She'd never even bothered to ask and that made her feel guilty and maybe just a little stupid. It was the decent thing to do.

"Jake Lockley."

"It's nice to meet you, Jake."

There was silence for a few moments and the two swung on the swings a bit. They didn't know what to say but there was still one question she needed to ask, "Do you still work for Khonshu?" Jake nodded and Ronny sighed, shaking her head slightly, "That's what I thought." She then added, "You need to tell them."

"I will."

"I can't keep your secret forever."

"I know."

"Good."

-

THE END.

NOTE
i didn't know it would end here, there is technically like 4 more scenes planned but they no longer make sense with how this last scene actually panned out so we're done, we're finished, it's over??!! i'm actually emotionally about this (for once)?? marc and steven were my rock in a really shitty period of exams and stress and this fic was an outlet for me and i'm really excited that ronny's story is done (for now) but also a little scared. the ending is ambiguous but yeah, the end is here. i really hope you guys enjoyed and thank you so so so so much for all the support!! it's actually been mind-boggling how many people cared for my little marc and steven obsession!! your support means that world and i hope you enjoyed the journey as much as i did!

RONNY WILL RETURN (at some point, idk when yet)

THANK YOU FOR READING!! ILY ALL <3