Work Text:
Jack rolled over onto his stomach and groaned, trying and failing to fall back into the deep sleep he had been dragged out of.
The cause of his disruption bounced up and down on his back.
“Papa! Papa! You can’t sleep all day! Wake up!”
“Bailey,” he mumbled, eyes still closed “let me sleep.”
“No!” she flopped down on his back and pressed her cheek to his, “Daddy says you need to get up.”
He heard a distant voice from down the hall call “Not true!” in response. Bailey giggled.
“So,” Jack shifted a bit, getting more comfortable with her on his back, “he sent you in here to wake me up because he was too scared to do it himself.”
“He says that I’m the only one who would be safe.”
Again, Mark butted in from wherever he was in the house, “Bailey! That is not what happened! Are you guys ignoring me?!”
“Well, he’s not wrong.” Sighing, he turned over, causing her to flip onto the bed with a thump. She giggled and climbed back up the bed, bending down, she pressed her lips to his cheek to give him a gross sloppy kiss. He made a face and wiped at his cheek.
“Papa, you can’t wipe it off! Don’t wipe off my love!”
“Yeah Jack,” Mark’s voice came floating in from the doorway, much closer than it had been before, “don’t wipe off all of the love.”
“Coward.” Jack answered, “Have you come to defend yourself?”
Mark chuckled, “No, I came to tell someone that they need to find a bath tub, I see I’m already too late. Great, Bay. Now I have to wash the sheets and you woke up the troll.”
She giggled again. Completely ignoring the whine in Mark’s voice, she leaned back down to rest her head on Jack’s chest, listening for his heartbeat.
Still without opening his eyes, he reached a hand up to card his fingers through Bailey’s hair. His eyes shot open and his gaze snapped down to her when he felt something sticky coat his fingers.
That wasn’t ketchup. Bailey was covered in think red liquid that could be nothing other than blood.
“Oh my God,” Jack shot up and lifted his daughter up with him, “are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she shrugged her shoulders then placed her sticky, blood-coated hands on his chest, “this blood isn’t mine.”
Thoughts of Mark, bleeding and not wanting Bailey to worry crossed his mind. “Is Daddy okay? Did he hurt himself?”
She tilted her head, “No?”
Jack, panicked, jumped out of bed, and sprinted out of the bedroom. He flung himself down the hallway, calling for Mark the entire time.
Mark slid out of the kitchen just in time to catch Jack by the shoulders, “Jack? What’s wrong? Is Bailey alright?”
“Are you alright?” Jack asked, running his hands over Mark’s body to try to find some sort of injury.
“What? Of course I’m fine! What happened? Did you have a bad dream or something?”
“No! Bailey is covered in blood and I don’t know-“
Mark’s loud laughter cut him off. He had a strong grip on Jack’s shoulders, and as he laughed, he leaned forward to press his face into his shoulder. A few seconds later, two small hands tangled himself in his pajama bottoms When he looked down at his daughter, he saw her trying to hide a smile as well.
“I’m sorry for making you worry, papa.” She said, tilting her head down and resting her forehead on his leg.
After calming down, Mark wheezed out, “It’s alright, Jack. It’s not blood at all.”
Jack gave him a disbelieving look.
“It’s fake vampire blood. We were filling a cauldron with it as a decoration and she spilled it all over herself. Then when I tried to clean her off, she ran screaming to you. I should have warned you, I’m sorry.”
Jack heart rate calmed and his cheeks heated, “Ah.” He looked down at the curled up mass of giggling little girl that clung to his leg, “I guess it’s time for a bath then.”