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“What?” Mark had said. His face had fallen. “Eve, I could never kill you.”
Eve didn’t know how long she’d been locked up. She didn’t want to know.
Her hair was starting to grow back. She wanted to ask for it to be cut, but she didn’t, because she knew Mark would give her what she wanted. Whenever she asked for something—a moment outside, a change of clothes, even hot chocolate, she got what she asked for. She had a bed with plush pillows and a soft couch and a TV. Her cell was the size of a studio apartment, and after she learned her parents had been killed, she was given a therapist. Because, she came to realize, Mark really did care. Not enough to let her go, of course.
He’d given her three boxes of books, all first editions, and she was re-reading a page of The Taming of the Shrew over and over again when a shrill, electronic bell rang.
“Step away from the door, please.”
Of course, Eve had tried to escape the first time Mark came to visit. But Mark had simply turned on her TV, showing a live feed of resistance members being held hostage. One of them was shot, and Mark told her that every time she tried to escape, another person would die. Eve stared at the woman’s body for a long moment, before she hung her head. When she told Mark to leave, of course, he had.
But he hadn’t stopped coming, and Eve didn’t want to know what would happen if she refused him, so she stepped away from her door and Mark came in, wearing a cable-knit sweater and jeans and a tired smile.
“Hey,” he said. “How’re you feeling?”
“Fine,” Eve said.
“You can be honest,” Mark said, running a hand through his hair. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead. “Things have been weird. It’s okay.”
Eve tightened her jaw, clenching one of her fists to keep the hand from shaking. “Thanks.”
“You’re still mad,” Mark frowned.
Eve gave him a flat look.
“Rex’s family sends their best,” Mark said. “They’re helping with reconstruction. They seem alright.”
Eve’s jaw set. “That’s great, Mark.”
Mark’s frown deepened. After a moment, he asked, “Can you sit with me on the couch?”
Eve did, but she very much had to resist the urge to jab her fingers into his eyes. Oh, it would be so sweet, but she knew what would happen if she did.
Mark’s eyes flickered down to her legs before jumping back up. Charming.
“When my dad first told me,” Mark said, “You know what he did, but I wasn’t… it still took a while. I really didn’t get it at first.”
Eve just managed not to roll her eyes.
“There was this guy, or—alien, I guess. I fought him a bit before this all happened. His name was Allen. We went around for a bit before he told me why he was actually here.”
Eve remained expressionless. “Okay.”
“He’s from this resistance group—they oppose us. He was here to test us to make sure we could stand up to a viltrumite.” Eve cocked an eyebrow and Mark scratched the back of his neck. “but he wasn’t supposed to be here.”
Eve’s eyebrow didn’t budge.
“No, seriously,” Mark said, “he wasn’t supposed to be here. He was supposed to go to a planet called Urath. These people can’t even send someone to the right planet. And they want to replace Viltrum.”
“Okay.”
“And his species…” Mark said slowly, “… I know what everyone thinks. But—the Unopinans, that what they call themselves, they resisted when Viltrum came, too. After it was over, they had to set up breeding camps. I’m trying to save lives here. I need you to trust me.”
Bile rose in her throat.
“Eve,” Mark sighed, “what do you want me to say?”
Eve pursed her lips into a fine line. The line warbled. The bile burned. She wanted to manhandle him, ask him how he could do any of this after the past three years, after living his whole life on Earth. So many… trying to… no. No. He was a liar, he was a manipulative, gas-lighting asshole and he had had them all fooled, including her. Did he want her to make out with him while cities burned?
“Do you really want to know what I think?” Eve asked with some venom.
Mark looked a little put out, but he said, “Yes.”
“Then you could’ve fucking started with ‘I’m sorry’!” Eve yelled. Mark flinched. “You could’ve—you didn’t have to lie to us, convince us you’re this great guy. You aren’t even human!”
Mark looked at his feet. Eve went on, threw out everything she knew would make him hurt. She saw anger on his face, but when she was done, Mark said, quietly, “I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t lie,” Mark said, still studying his shoes. “I didn’t like it. I wanted to tell you so many times. All of you. Robot, Kate, even… even Rex. I didn’t enjoy fighting them, or anyone else. I’m trying to save lives.”
Eve glared at him.
“I know you can’t…” Mark shook his head. “I know you won’t… If you told me that I’d be doing this when I was 15, I’m disgusted too. Would be.” He paused. “Would be.”
A tense quiet fell over the two of them, until Mark dragged his head up and said, “Eve, I love you. I want this to work.”
Eve blinked. Her heart skipped one beat, then two, then three.
“You don’t,” she said.
Mark smiled weakly. “I do, Eve.”
“You’re a sociopath,” she said.
“I love you,” Mark repeated.
“Fuck you,” Eve said.
“I love you,” he said again.
“Fuck you.”
“I love you,” he said.
“I—you can take your love and choke on it!” Eve said. She shook with rage.
Quiet fell again. Mark looked away, looking like some sort of sick puppy. Eve wanted to spit at him.
“I’ll be back in a few days,” Mark eventually said, and then he pulled something out of his pocket. It was a Séance Dog figurine, very roughed up around the edges. “This is mine. It’s stupid, I know, but just—take it. You can do whatever you want with it. But just take it.”
He gave it to her, and promptly sped out of before she could throw it away. And Eve did, but not after staring at it for a few seconds longer than she wanted to.