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His footsteps were slow, careful. Debbie sat at the foot of her and Nolan's bed, head in her hands. The lights were off. She looked up as the door creaked open, and the light from the hallway only cast him in black. Debbie winced as he flicked the lights on. Mark was in costume; she couldn't see his beautiful, brown eyes. Her eyes.
“Dad told me you guys had a fight,” Mark said.
“I-it’s nothing,” Debbie said. “You don’t have to worry.”
“He said you kicked him out, Mom.” Mark said, still standing over her. Debbie always managed to forget how tall he’d gotten over the last three years. “I think I have a right to worry.”
Debbie wiped her eyes and straightened her shoulders. “You don’t have to, honey. You can relax. And it’s a school night. Don’t you have homework?”
Mark smiled sadly. “Mom, it’s okay. I know.”
“You know?”
“I know,” Mark repeated, walking up to her and, gently, tugging her to her feet. He hugged her, then stepped back again. “I know.”
Debbie blinked. “You don’t… I just…”
“Dad told me after he got back from the hospital,” Mark said. “I had a hard time accepting it too.”
“He… he told you before he told me?” Debbie asked.
Mark’s face fell into a frown. “It was superhero stuff, Mom. I haven’t enjoyed keeping it from you, but I took Dad’s lead. This was too important.”
“This?” Debbie shook her head. “Honey, you aren’t making sense.”
Mark let out a breath. “He told me about the Guardians, Mom.”
For a moment, Debbie was stunned into silence. Then she said, “So it’s—it’s true?”
Mark nodded.
Debbie stood there for a moment, then shouted, “And you’ve both been lying to me this whole time?!”
Mark flinched. “Dad said you might listen to me.”
“About what? That your father is a goddamn murderer?!” Debbie couldn’t believe her ears.
“Mom, please,” Mark said quietly. “Dad isn’t a murderer, I promise.”
"Tell that to Olga!" Debbie jabbed a finger at him.
“She’s stupid,” Mark snapped. “So is Cecil, and Darkblood, and whoever the fuck else.”
“Markus Grayson,” Debbie said. “You explain to me what the hell is going on right now.”
Mark looked away. He said, “Dad was right.”
Debbie reached for him, but Mark stepped away. She said, “Mark, your father murdered the Guardians for no good reason. He told you before he told his own wife. Honey, this is insane!”
“I’M NOT CRAZY!” Mark screamed.
He was breathing heavily, glaring at her now, with more anger than Debbie had ever seen from him. She reached for him, again, but he stepped even further away.
“Mark…” Debbie said. “… I know. You’re not crazy. But you still haven’t explained this to me. Tell me why, please. Please tell me there is a good reason.”
“There is, Mom.” Mark said. “I… I need you to trust me.”
“Your father asked me the same thing,” Debbie said.
“Because he needs you to. I need you to.”
Debbie was quiet for a space, then sighed heavily. “Alright. Alright, honey, I trust you. Why did your father—why did he do all of this?”
Mark took a breath. Then he said, “After I turned 16, Dad told me why he was here. Why he was really here.”
“He’s here to protect us,” Debbie said, but the words felt hollow.
“Viltrum needs us,” Mark said. “Dad, me, and you. And he is here to protect us. So am I.”
“But why kill the Guardians?” Debbie asked.
“The universe is really big, Mom.” Mark straightened. “It’s dangerous. There are other races out there, races that might want to hurt us. And more Viltrumites are coming anyways, so we need to prepare Earth to be their subjects.”
“Subjects?” Debbie’s stomach began to turn. “Why did the Guardians have to die, Mark?”
“I didn’t understand it at first either,” Mark said. “You remember when I came home with all of those bruises last year?”
Debbie’s stomach twisted. “Yes. Of course I remember.”
“That was Dad,” Mark said. Debbie gasped. He smiled sadly again. “I know, Mom. But I needed it. It got me to understand.”
Debbie swallowed thickly. “Understand what, Markie?”
“Why I’m here.”
“Honey, you’re here because your father and I wanted you.”
“No.” Mark said. “I’m a viltrumite. That means I have responsibilities. Dad does too. The Guardians would have only gotten in the way. They would’ve caused people to get hurt.”
“Hurt by what?” Debbie asked, but she had a terrible feeling about the answer.
“The more people resist, the more Dad and I have to fight, and the more people are put in danger.” Mark said simply.
“What—why would you be fighting anyone? Especially heroes like the Guardians?” Debbie asked.
Mark’s smile faded. “Mom, Earth is going to be part of the Viltrum Empire. Dad came here to prepare us, and I share that responsibility too. People like the Guardians wouldn’t understand—like I said, they would’ve fought back, and that would only put people in danger. They had to die.”
Debbie echoed numbly, “They had to die?”
“Yes.” Mark said emphatically. “Exactly! Dad has been telling me about the empire for years. As part of the Empire, there would be no more wars, we could cure diseases, make sure nobody ever goes hungry again.”
“And what if they resist?” Debbie asked, quieter.
Mark was quiet for a moment, too. Then he said, “They die.”
Debbie was stunned into silence again. She stumbled back a step.
“You can’t be serious,” she said.
“That’s why Dad and I are here, Mom. To keep people from resisting. I’ve told you: the more people resist, the more we have to fight, and the more people die. The Guardians had to go.”
“What about Amber?” Debbie shook her head. “William, Eve? What if they resist?”
“I would never kill them!” Mark said, and he looked hurt. “They would have to be imprisoned, but I would never kill Amber, or William, or Eve. I’m not a monster, Mom.”
“What if I resist?” Debbie asked.
Mark said, immediately, “You’re being stupid. We aren’t bloodthirsty murderers. We can be reasonable.”
“Killing people if they say no isn’t reasonable!” Debbie yelled. “What do you think is going to happen? That we’ll just let Viltrum enslave us?”
Mark almost trembled, then he sniffled and pulled up his mask to wipe his eyes. He looked at her for a space, then lowered it back down and said, “You aren’t listening, Mom.”
“Oh, I’m listening,” Debbie said. “I just can’t recognize who I’m talking to.”
Mark turned away, even more hurt. He studied his feet, before turning back to Debbie and squaring his shoulders.
“You can’t stop me.” He said. “You can’t stop Dad.”
“I am your mother, Markus.” Debbie snapped. “If I tell you to do something, you damn well better do it.”
“Or you’ll what?” Mark asked tiredly.
Debbie teared up. “Honey, please. You don’t have to do this. Go get your father. We can—we can talk about this. Take a step back, before anybody does something they’ll regret.”
“It’s already started, Mom.” Mark said. “Dad destroyed the GDA’s nerve center an hour ago. He needed me to eliminate the new Guardians fifteen minutes ago.”
Mark sighed heavily, sniffled again, and took a deep breath. He said, “We’ll talk about this later.”
Then he flew right through the wall, and Debbie could only fall back onto the bed, numb. She would call Olga ten minutes later, on the edge of panic, but for the moment, all she could do was stare at the hole Mark made.