Chapter Text
Mark had let Jack sleep.
He looked as though he needed it and Mark personally didn’t mind. The fact that Jack trusted Mark enough to fall asleep so freely in his arms made Mark feel all warm inside. In fact, he was incredibly comfortable. So much so that he had ended up falling asleep too.
He wasn’t sure how long they had slept, but when he woke, he was laying on the couch with Jack lying curled up in Mark’s arms on his side. Mark couldn’t help but blush as he realized Jack and him were practically spooning. The little Irishman however, didn’t seem as calm as Mark first thought.
Jack looked distressed. He was making little whimpers of noise and squirmed in Mark’s arms. It looked like he was having a nightmare. Pushing himself up on one elbow, Mark gently shook Jack.
“Jack, come on buddy, wake up,” said Mark softly. He shook Jack again, this time a little harder and with more urgency. Jack didn’t wake though, he just groaned and curled into a ball. “Jack, wake up. It’s a nightmare. Come on.”
This time Jack’s eyes snapped open and he flinched away from the hand Mark had on his shoulder, causing him to fall off the couch.
“Ah fuck,” groaned Jack from the floor now.
“Shit Jack, you ok? I didn’t mean to startle you,” said Mark, looking over the side of the couch to see Jack lying on the floor, an arm over his face and he just groaned. “Sorry man.”
Sighing, Jack moved his arm and looked up at Mark. “Was I… talking in my sleep at all?”
Mark frowned at the question then shook his head. “You were making little noises. You know, like you were in pain. Was that… ah, Anti?”
Jack sat up and nodded, running and hand through his green hair. It flopped uselessly back in front of his eyes. “I didn’t wake you did I?”
“No,” confessed Mark. “We were just sp–” Mark went to say ‘spooning’ but stopped himself. “Just sleeping. On the couch. Together. Just sleeping.”
Jack didn’t notice Mark’s mix up. He slowly got to his feet, unsteady and still extremely tired looking. Mark stood too, standing by Jack’s side to make sure he was still ok. It pained him to see the normally joyful and happy-go-lucky Irishman in such a terrible way. All he could do was be there to help; and to figure out this whole Anti mess.
“Jack?”
“Yeah?”
“I was thinking… that last video on Halloween with Anti… The cut on your throat… Was that real?”
Jack instinctively reached for his throat and remember the bloody mess he’d woken up to after that video had been done. His hands shook and he laughed hoarsely.
“Ah yeah. Yeah it was,” he confessed.
“What?! Are you serious?! Anti fucking slit your throat?”
“Well… yeah. He kept me alive though. Something about not surviving without a host. I don’t know.”
“There’s no scar though,” commented Mark, looking at Jack’s throat inquisitively.
“Guess Anti has one bonus, I heal pretty damn well now. I cut my hand on a broken cup the other day and I woke up the next day with not even a scar.”
“Huh, that’s… that’s pretty handy,” mused Mark.
“Still not fun though. I think Anti tries to get me to purposely hurt myself.”
“Why’d he do that?”
“Because he’s a fucking dick.” Jack even managed to laugh at that. He’d been doing that lately; laughing at his own suffering. He hated Anti because of that.
“Don’t be mean, Jackaboy.”
Jack’s body tensed and he shut his eyes. He knew how this must look to Mark. But in that moment he didn’t care. He just needed to keep Anti out. God only knows what Anti would do to Mark. Jack couldn’t let anything happen to Mark; especially not by Anti’s hand.
Suddenly he felt strong hands grab his shoulders and give him a small shake. He could hear Mark’s voice faintly over the static laughter he could hear in his head. That laughter made him jerk back but Mark held him steady. He tried to focus on Mark in front of him. His hands moved from the sides of his head to hold onto Mark’s chest and he whimpered, shaking as Mark pulled him close.
Jack clung tightly to Mark’s shirt, feeling safer already. The static in his head was dying down. But Anti was still there. Anti wasn’t going away. Only his influence was dying down.
“It’s ok…” Mark was saying. “I got you man. It’s ok. I’m here.”
Jack whimpered and hid his face more in Mark’s chest. He felt so useless. Anti was wearing down Jack's defences.
“I hate him…” mumbled Jack.
“I know Jack, I know.”
Jack sighed and relaxed into Mark’s arms. Mark was safe; Mark was strong. Jack felt better in his arms. He didn’t care how that sounded, because right now Mark was all he needed; all he wanted. Anti was just a voice in his head.
A loud… obnoxious… daunting… static voice in his head.
And one that wouldn’t shut up either. Jack knew there was no way he’d hold out on Anti forever. Yet as long as he had Mark near, Jack knew he’d manage. Even as Mark held him close, Jack could still hear Anti in the back of his mind. The last thing he heard made him cling even tighter to Mark.
“Just let me out!”