Hello there, my dearies! I've kinda been planning on doing this for a while, and finally one day, I figured out how to do it! Now this takes place in the 18 months between the second and third game. I've planned through the third game (like seven times) and if you haven't this may not make make a lot of sense. I have it taking place on Sovereign and other random places, but mainly Sovereign. Oh, yeah, this is male/male, yaoi, slash, take your pick. Now I'd like to go ahead and apologize because I'm pretty sure I probably screwed up the characters, so... Well anyway, enjoy. There will be more, I guarantee! I'm currently reading the books too, so that should help me more with characterization. Well, enough of my ramblings, enjoy the story, my lovelies~!

"How do you like it?" Marcus peeked around the frame of the opened door.

Dom jumped slightly, not expecting the other to show up out of nowhere, "Hey. It's...pretty nice, I guess."

"Yeah, hardly any roaches or mice."

Dom cracked a faint smile, and continued unpacking the few items he had. Marcus leaned against the cold metal of the wide door frame, stuffing his hands into the pockets of jeans. Dom hardly ever smiled anymore, so even something so small carried so much meaning to him. He examined the slightly smaller male, now free of the armor in which he usually wore. He looked so much more gentle wearing normal clothes. However, Marcus knew the comfort of the cotton clothes would not last long, and again they would don their armor and fight at some point, probably sooner than later. The small moment of peace wouldn't last long at all, though it was fun to make-believe while you could.

"You done unpacking?" Dom turned around slightly.

Marcus chuckled lightly, almost sarcastically, "Nothing to unpack."

The older of the two continued inside, sitting down on Dom's cot. Dom could sense something was wrong. A lifetime with someone gave you abilities like that.

"...You okay, man?"

"...You know what this place kinda reminds me of?"

"What?" he half-dreaded the answer he was about to receive.

"Jail."

"The dark undertone was clear in his friends voice. He walked over to Marcus, gently setting his hand on the larger male's shoulder, "Let's go see what Cole and Baird are up to."

Marcus only grunted in response, though Dom knew it was one of approval, and rose, leading the way out of the smallish room with Dom following close behind. The commander of Delta squad figured the two would most likely be celebrating in the rec room Sovereign had, where a small welcome party was being held.

It had been a few months since the sinking of Jacinto and now that everyone had become a Stranded, they had dispersed, each and everyone going separate places. Delta squad's home was currently abroad Sovereign... at least for the time being. Soon they would be dropped to investigate the mainland for a while, seeing whether it was inhabitable or not, searching for any supplies that would most definitely be needed, things like that. And while these orders were not given yet, everyone knew that they were right around the corner. The four of them once again would be left to die for the "greater good". Sometimes, it made Marcus sick, but this is what he had signed up for.

"Hey! Look to finally decided to join the party, baby!" Cole greeted the two almost too excitedly, as he generally did, walking up and patting Marcus's shoulder roughly, in the friendly manner he always had.

The room was filled with Gears, who now looked normal, and cilivans. The newest member of Delta squad, Sam, came out of seemingly nowhere, holding two bottles of beer. She practically thrust one at Marcus, then smiled kindly at Dom and handed one to him. Marcus rolled his eyes.

"I'm trying to get Baird drunk to see how many stupid things I can get to him to say," the woman with a bit of an accent said, sounding slightly intoxicated herself.

Dom half-smiled, continuing inside, taking a sip of the drink, "And how's that going for you?"

"Not so well... Hey Marcus, Anya's getting pretty tipsy though," he smirk quickly turned perverted.

"So?" the dark haired male scuffed, "What the fuck does that mean to me?" he continued on inside, pushing past Sam and Cole almost coldly.

"...Who took his teddy?" the brunette girl questioned before taking a swing from the bottle.

"Not quite sure," Dom responded in almost a whisper before chasing after the other.

Marcus knew it was his childish immaturity getting the better of him. He wasn't really a man of words, but more a man of actions. In fact, Marcus almost dreaded having to ever use words. So as he submerged himself in the sea of soldiers and civilians, he thought about the words he could use, only coming up completely blank.

"Marcus?" it had taken a bit of time to catch up with the other, "You know Sam was just joking, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"...What's up with you?"

"Nothing... I'm fine."

"I've known you long enough to know that that's not true."

"Drop it Dom," the older man's voice hardened.

"...Okay, okay. I get the hint... But at least promise me you'll try to enjoy yourself."

"Yeah. Sure. Fine. Whatever," Marcus was really just agreeing with the other to make him stop worrying.

Dom smiled and patted Marcus's shoulder again, before he turned to walk off, sensing that the other wanted to be left alone. Marcus raised to bottle and took a long drink from it.

"Fuckin' women," Baird walked up beside Marcus, crossing his arms over his chest.

Marcus raised an eyebrow and looked over at the blond who'd appeared spontaneously, "...What?"

"Sam's trying to get me drunk, and I'm pretty sure it's because she's trying to seduce me."

"...Yeah, that's a mental image I really needed."

Baird looked normal not, wearing jeans and a button down collared shirt, though he still wore his goggles on his forehead. As to why, no know knew, but then again, no one really cared to ask.

"...That's a shock," Baird spoke again.

"What?"

"I expected some sort of smartass comment. I mean, I set you up for the perfect gay joke, and nothin'. You're losing it man, I'm tellin' you."

"Sorry about not mocking you. I know you look forward to it so much. I kinda need to be alone right now."

"Then I'll leave. But if you see Sam, tell her she's fuckin' delusional."

"Will do."

So Marcus stood, quite shocked he was able to get rid of the annoying blond so easily. He must have really been wearing his emotions on his sleeve. He idly wondered about the room, trying to find words, trying to avoid anyone who would be interested in him. He watched from afar as Sam and Dom talked and laughed and smiled. Sure, Marcus could pretend that things were "okay". He could make jokes, though laughing and smiling weren't really his thing, but hell stuff like that was probably the reason he was still alive. But... things got complicated when it came to the closest person he has to family. And it wasn't like he personally disliked Sam or anything, in fact, she was quite the useful addition to the team. But it was those little hints at Dom, those little comments that meant "hey, I like you" to anyone who wasn't oblivious like Dom, that made Marcus absolutely hate that woman. It was often assumed that Marcus and Anya had "sexual tension" or liked each other, or something like that, but as far as Marcus saw it, not really. And besides, the man had just lost his wife! No one seemed to truly understand the pure agony felt by Dom. No one else was there with him... except Marcus. Marcus had always been there for him.

He knew he was being a bit of a child, wanting to keep Dom all for himself, but Dom was "special". Dom understood what he was trying to say without him saying a single word. Kinda... kinda like a married couple.

Marcus immediately shook that thought from his head. No, he and Dom were nothing like a married couple. They were brothers. He looked across the room at the Hispanic man, pretending to actually be happy, laughing and drinking with Sam and Cole and Clayton Carmine. Even Carmine was dressed down, and even more surprisingly, had his helmet off. Marcus took another long drink, finding it empty. Marcus quickly found another and reconnected his lips to the bottle.

Civilians mixed together with the COG crowd, all excited about the new place they would be calling "home". Even Baird would swing by occasionally and crack a joke. It seemed that Marcus was the only one not enjoying himself.

There wasn't really anything in particular that was bothering him. In fact, things had been going pretty well, compared to how they had been. They had a new place for the time being, a vacation essentially, where they could relax and be normal, rather than deal with the mass amount s of stress that came with being a Gear. But it was only recently that Marcus's mind really started going a bit haywire. Up until a few months previous, Marcus had been able to completely avoid all said thoughts, using excuses like "oh, he's married" and all "weird" thoughts immediately vanished. However, no with Maria gone... all those thoughts resumed. Marcus tried telling himself "his wife just died" , and repeated incessantly "he's a guy!", but that too was of no use, remembering certain things that had happened with Carlos...

Well, well? What do you guys think about the first chapter? I would really love to hear some feedback! So please please leave a review! Thank you very much!