I'm back!

Hi everyone! I'm so happy to be starting I Am Me, but I am glad for the rest. After compiling everything together, I discovered I had written 120 pages in just under 4 months…A little bit nuts! In saying that, I have made a new cover for Mirror, Mirror (feel free to check it out!) and have been making some small updates (correcting typos etc.), just enough to keep me sharp for this!

It is highly recommended that everyone reading this story has read the first part of the series, Mirror, Mirror, or else a lot of this will not make sense! While in theory it is possible to read this story in isolation, I would seriously encourage all readers to have read the complete series up to this point before starting I Am Me.

I would like to give a massive shout out to everyone who left me messages after the last chapter of Mirror, Mirror. Thank you all so much for your kind words, they continue to motivate me to keep improving on my writing and make this series the best it can be! Subtle Shenanigans, Tifflinck, Tatsuki74, gear25, Chrisblue1030 and sarahlucylu, you are all amazing!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to Markiplier, JackSepticEye or Matthias/Hi5 Universe. If you wish to use anything relating to my own universe, please ask first.

So, here we go. I hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 1: One Year On

It was another early spring day, not long past midday, and Mark shivered as he came back in the house from walking Chica. The weather was unseasonably cold for March in California and he was cursing the fact he still had to wear a jacket when taking his beloved dog out for a walk. She skipped around the house excitedly as soon as they were back, and Mark couldn't blame her: she was feeding off his own enthusiasm. The upcoming three weeks were going to be great, and he was desperately looking forward to them.

Mark wandered through the house to his recording room and took a moment to examine all the photos which had become an integral part of his newly revamped space. After their excursion to the Dreamscape just over a year ago, Mark had turned his channel in a slightly new direction. While he still played lots of games, he had begun to focus much more on doing collaborative work with many people across YouTube. He'd reconnected with old friends, made many new ones, and solidified many bonds which had maybe slipped away slightly in the time before. His experiences within the digital world had changed his outlook on life, and he kept pushing himself to achieve all he could.

He briefly closed his eyes as he thought back to a year ago, when his life was completely turned upside down. When everything changed. When I realised I couldn't let life simply pass me by anymore.

Returning to reality had led to a lot of changes for Mark, Jack and Matt. They had spent the remainder of their time at Digitalia doing as much research as they could for when they eventually left the abandoned base, and planning for the future. When they left that little bubble, there were going to be a lot of questions which they needed answers to. Between them, they had managed to not only find the way to communicate with players inside the Dreamscape – meaning they could speak to Alix from the outside world – but also learn many of the mechanics of the vast world created, with her help.

They had soon discovered that Glaysha was the only simulation anywhere near completion, no doubt due to Damien's plans, but there were four others which at least had been started. Three of them were nothing more than basic foundations, but there had been one other which had at least been given a vague landscape. Between the YouTubers working on the outside and Alix on the inside, they realised that no-one had worked on any of the other simulations past when Alix had been trapped. A bit of digging through the security archives confirmed their conclusions, and they had discovered something sinister within those tapes. They had learned that Damien had the ability to travel from his host at will, and they realised he had done it many times in the lead up to their little misadventure.

Mark had come to a stunning conclusion upon closer inspection of the timings of Damien disappearing: it was always around the same time Chica had been barking at the tree in his back yard. She had somehow sensed Damien's presence, and had been trying to keep him away. Mark had made sure to spoil her rotten when he returned home.

Returning to their normal lives had been surreal for Mark, Jack and Matt. All three of the them had been forever changed by their experiences inside the Dreamscape, and even a year later they still carried the signs. Some much more obvious than others.

Mark opened his eyes again and smiled at the photos on the wall – they had been the biggest change to his life. After nearly losing so much at Damien's hands, he had been determined to live to the fullest and experience as much as he could. The ones within his recording space were all of him and his friends during various work projects and vacations they had taken together over the years, though many of them were from the past year. His smile grew at several from Wade and Molly's wedding, remembering what a brilliant day that was. He could spend all day looking at these images, they never failed to remind him just why it was he kept going.

Knowing he had to get some work done, he went to his desk and sat down, but not before he looked at the photos he kept next to him during all of his recordings. They were the ones that meant the most to him: his family, a group shot from when he went on tour with Wade, Bob, Ethan and Tyler, and lastly a photo that he, Matt and Jack had taken together when they left Digitalia a year ago. Their adventure together had created a deep bond, one Mark knew would mean more to him than any other. Matt and Jack knew about Damien, about the threat he could (and probably would) pose again someday. And they would willingly stand next to him if he needed help. It was more than Mark could ever hope to ask for.

Mark's phone pinged at him from his pocket and he took it out, staring suspiciously when he saw it was a message from Jack. The Irishman had said he was going to be busy for the last couple of days before he was due to travel out to stay with Mark over the next three weeks, and Mark couldn't help but be curious as to the sudden message. He turned his gaze to the hall in confusion when he heard Chica start barking excitedly and stood up to see what had caught her attention. When he reached the living room he saw her bounding around outside the front door, just about able to make out a silhouette through the patterned glass. "Huh…I don't have any deliveries due…" he wondered out loud before wandering over.

When he opened the door, his jaw almost hit the ground in shock. "Sean! What the hell are you doing here?" he exclaimed while giving Jack a large hug.

Jack sniggered as Mark embraced him. "Take it you never got my text then?"

"Wha…?" Mark fished his phone out from his pocket and chuckled at the message. Are you just going to leave me standing out here? "My bad, dude, I was just about to start recording for the day. But still, you aren't due here for another couple of days, what's with the early drop-in? Not that I'm not ecstatic to see you."

The Irishman smiled as he shrugged. "I just felt like surprising you is all. Signe's still coming over in two days, but I thought we could maybe make the most of the time before that to go over our plans for our stint out at Digitalia? It's kind of hard to talk about all that if the girls are around."

Mark nodded in agreement. One of the hardest things about the past year for Mark, Jack and Matt had been keeping the truth about what happened in the Dreamscape secret from their significant others. Amy, Signe and Amanda had all been suspicious when the three of them were acting out of character for the first month after they returned, but they all accepted their reasoning when they said they were just thinking about the project they had been involved in. Keeping the pretence had then become harder after Jack had decided he was determined to come over every four months, but the three of them departing regularly for their 'top secret' project helped to alleviate any worries they had. Or at least, as many as possible.

"Sure, I'm game. Want to do that now or message Matt and see if he is free?" Mark continued.

Jack's expression fell slightly. "Only if he's up to it, I know he's been struggling more recently. Any more news from the docs on what is up with him?"

Mark sighed. "I wish. Poor Amanda is getting really worried about him now."

Matt was the one who had changed the most out of the three of them, though most of it was not through his own choice. He had suffered physically more than the other two, and now suffered from permanent headaches. Running Hi5 had become much harder, and he'd been forced to step away from many of the channels he was involved in a lot sooner than he otherwise might have planned. His condition had been hampering his quality of life so much that he had been back and forth to the doctor constantly, desperately searching for any reason why. Nothing had been found. The only conclusion the doctors had come to was that it was some sort of light sensitivity, but Mark and Jack both knew differently. Whatever had been ailing Matt was a direct result of their journey in the Dreamscape. Mark and Jack had been doing whatever research they could in their spare time to help their friend, but so far nothing had given them any answers.

Jack looked away in frustration. "I just wish we could tell them what we know, maybe it would help him?"

Mark gave him a serious look back. "You know what that would mean, Sean. That would mean telling them the truth about the Dreamscape, and you are the last person in the world to put Alix in any danger."

The Irishman sighed. "I know, Mark. It just sucks."

After a few seconds pause, Mark sent a message to Matt before helping Jack get settled with all of his gear. Jack and Signe would be in California for three weeks, but not all of that would be spent together. Mark, Jack and Matt were due to head back out to Digitalia in three days and spend a week out there, as had become their custom during each of Jack's visits over the past year. While they were away, Amy and Signe were going to go with Amanda and Luna for a small vacation together. Just as the three men had grown closer due to the events of the Dreamscape, their other halves had done so from the time the three spent away at Digitalia working.

Mark found Matt got back to him about ten minutes later, and he smiled. "Matt's actually at Hi5 today, seems like he's doing better. Want to drop in and say hello?"

The duo arrived a short time later and were glad to see Matt standing outside with a beaming smile. Matt, unlike Mark, had known Jack was coming over early and greeted the Irishman happily as they got out of the car. "Nice to see you made it in one piece, Jack," Matt quipped as he gave Mark a brief hug.

Jack yawned widely. "Yeah, though I tell you being up and at the airport so early was a killer. Poor Signe had to fight me a lot this morning."

Mark and Jack said hello to everyone at the studios before they headed up to Matt's new office. With all the changes Matt had been forced into due to his constant headaches, he had been moved to a quieter area of Hi5 away from the bulk of the recording studios. Now he could at least work as much as he could in relative peace, but he still couldn't work as much he wanted to. Many days were cut short purely because his headaches became too painful, and sometimes he couldn't even go in. He'd never appreciated just how his exceptional his team were until they all jumped in to pick up where he was forced to leave off, without so much as a single complaint. It made coping much easier.

Mark and Jack took seats at the side of Matt's desk, waiting as Matt turned the screen to face them. "So, I've been working on some small changes for the running of the Dreamscape over the past month, after what Alix told us had been starting to happen during our last trip out there. Hopefully this will stop all the issues she's been coming across."

Jack raised an eyebrow at him. "Matt, you're meant to be resting as much as you can, why didn't you ask one of us to do this?"

Matt gave Jack an unimpressed look. "Jack, if I did anything less I might as well not be working at all nowadays. I've had it with these goddamn headaches, I just wish they would do something to fix them!"

Mark look at Matt sympathetically. "Any news from the docs on whether they have any new ideas?"

The oldest man sighed and sat back in his seat, rubbing at his temples. "I'm going back there tomorrow, hopefully we can try something new. I'm willing to try literally anything at this stage."

All three of them sat in silence for a couple of seconds. "Are you up to travelling out to Digitalia with us? It's not a problem if you can't," said Jack softly.

Matt nodded wearily. "Yeah, I've got to, I need to upload this stuff to the Dreamscape, and I want to do some more studies on the supersonics. I want to know why you two can come and go from the digital world with no issues, but I've been so badly affected. Maybe the answer lies out there."

Mark spoke up. "Hey, there's no need for you to come out with us, Matt. Just tell us what you need and we'll send you the data; and Sean and I can handle uploading all the programming. We may not be as proficient at it as you, but we can still hold our own." Matt gave Mark an indecisive look. "Seriously, Matt. Go with the girls on their trip and chill out, the two of us can handle things out there."

"What about someone watching you guys from the outside?"

"Sean is the one who stays inside long-term anyway, I can keep jumping in and out to watch everything. I can't stay in there for days like he can." Jack chuckled but didn't deny Mark's statement.

Matt sat in thought before eventually nodding in agreement. "All right, I think I'll take you up on that offer – so long as the girls don't mind me gate-crashing. Will you two run it past Amy and Signe if I talk to Amanda?"

Jack chuckled. "Dude, I don't think your wife is going to mind you taking time out of work to go on a trip with her and your daughter." Matt laughed lightly before closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead again. Both Mark and Jack's expressions changed to that of concern. "Getting worse?"

"Yeah, sadly. It seems to change by the bloody minute, unfortunately. This is so goddamn frustrating."

Mark stood up and clapped Matt on the back lightly. "Hey, we'll get out of your hair, all right? Send us everything for Digitalia and we'll look over it tonight. And relax, Matt. You need to focus on trying to de-stress, for Amanda and Luna."

Jack also stood and gave Matt a quick squeeze to the shoulder. "Don't worry about us, and we'll see you when we get back, okay?"

Matt gave them a tired smile. "Okay, thanks guys. Say hi to Alix for me, and please tell her that I'm really sorry I'm not there."

Mark smiled at him. "You know we will, bud, and she's always the first to say that you shouldn't be making the trek out there. She'll just be hoping you feel better soon. We'll speak to you again before we head out, all right?"

The pair gave Matt one last wave before heading out, at which he leant forward over his desk, placed his head in hands and hissed in pain. He never wanted to show Mark and Jack just how much he was struggling, least of all Mark. Though the two of them showed minimal signs of their adventure a year ago, they both carried a lot of mental scars. To this day, Matt knew Mark blamed himself for Matt's ill health, even though it was in no way the half-Korean's fault. "Damn it…why is this getting so much worse?"

His phone then glitched, his screen going pure white twice before going dead. Matt swore as he began to fidget with it, trying to resurrect the electronic device. He couldn't understand what was wrong with it recently. "Again? Dammit, this is not what I need right now." He threw the device back on the table and sat back in his chair, letting out a long sigh as he stared upwards. "I am seriously hoping a vacation changes my luck."

He didn't see the flicker in the mirror of his office, the shadow which shimmered briefly before vanishing into obscurity again.

He's almost ready, and it can't come soon enough…My patience is wearing thin.

Mark and Jack arrived back at Mark's house for the evening and spent a couple of hours recording footage for their channels. Jack had warned all his fans that he was taking another trip out to the States for work, and he'd seen the hype the news had generated. Over the past year whenever Jack had travelled back to California, the fans had made the connection that he and Mark were together for at least some time – no surprise when the pair uploaded at least one video when Jack came over. Many people were speculating on the reason for Jack spending so many weeks away from home, and seeing the answers had given both he and Mark a great deal of amusement. The popular theory was they were working on a long-term project together and they couldn't help but see the irony of how close that summation was. Some of the others were just plain weird and downright insane: though they had seen a few comments which gave them great ideas.

The pair called a halt at around 8pm, Jack's jet lag catching up with a vengeance. Mark suggested they take some time to look over all of the details Matt had sent over earlier that day before Jack passed out. Jack gave a tired nod of the head before they each leant over Mark's laptop, staring at the lengthy email Matt had sent over.

Jack chuckled when he saw how long it was. "Fucking hell, Matt. Talk about an essay."

Mark laughed lightly. "You can tell he's pretty gutted about not going out to Digitalia, but getting some time with Amanda and Luna will definitely help him. Hopefully he's going to get a potential solution while we're away."

The Irishman sat in thought for a couple seconds before speaking again. "Mark, do you think it's as simple as Matt being more sensitive to the supersonics?" Mark sat up and faced Jack as he aired his thoughts. "This is something that has been on my mind for a while, hear me out. I'm only saying this now because…Well, Matt has never chosen to stay behind when we visit Digitalia. He's always so enthusiastic to examine all the technology and dig through the archives to advance all the tech they have at Hi5. For him to now be willing to stay behind…you know as well as I do that he's really suffering."

A frustrated sigh escaped Mark, knowing Jack was right about Matt. Across their various trips they had managed to unearth a treasure trove of information, a lot of which Matt had implemented to all their tech at Hi5. It had made life so much easier for them, and Mark knew Matt wouldn't pass up the opportunity to find more. That, and Matt genuinely enjoyed taking the time out at Digitalia – they all did. "Okay, so what makes you suspect it, and why have you just mentioned this now, Sean?"

Jack hesitated. "Well, I actually wondered at during my second trip back, but Matt didn't seem to be getting either better or worse, so I didn't really want to say anything and spook anyone. That and the docs were just starting to look for possible solutions, they could well have found something. I can't help-"

Barking from the corner of the room interrupted Jack, at which both he and Mark turned to see Chica yelping to be let out the sliding doors. Recognising there was urgency in her posture, Mark quickly leapt up and opened it for her. She dashed outside and started sniffing around the whole area, looking around in confusion. Mark watched her closely for about half a minute before Jack spoke up again. "Is she finding anything?" he asked cautiously, realising why Mark was so tense. This wasn't the first time this had happened.

Mark continued to stare, not answering Jack's question as he waited…Waited for Chica to suddenly turn around and lock on to something. Every time she was desperate to go outside now he let her, going through the cycle every so often. Chica would go out in a hurry, Mark would watch as she investigated, and then she would come back in not having found anything. After a year she had yet to discover anything, but Mark couldn't help but worry. He knew there was a chance, that slim chance...

She may be able to give him a warning if Damien returned.

"Mark!" The older man jumped at Jack's shout, turning to face the Irishman. Jack was now standing, looking at Mark in concern. "It's okay, dude. He's not out there." Mark sighed as he tried to let go of some of the tension in his body. Jack had been here before during some of these episodes, and he always helped to calm Mark down. "Damien wouldn't try that again, Mark, you know that as well as I do. We don't know what he's doing now, but he wouldn't lurk around here, not with Chica on permanent guard."

A long, deep breath escaped Mark as he tried to re-centre himself. "I know, Sean, I know. I just- Fuck, why do I do this every time?"

Jack smiled sympathetically. "I would be too, in your shoes. Hell, if Anti was still around I'd be jumping out of my fucking skin every time something electronic glitched." A large yawn chose to appear at just that moment, breaking the tense atmosphere as both Jack and Mark chuckled. "Right, I'm going to go and snore my head off for a few hours, think you can manage to not freak yourself out too badly while I'm gone?"

Mark rolled his eyes at Jack, appreciating the banter. "I'm a big boy, Sean. I think I'm good." Jack raised an eyebrow at him, leading Mark to rub the back of his neck awkwardly. "Okay, emphasis on the think."

A quiet laugh was Mark's answer as Chica gave up her patrol and came back inside. Jack knelt to cuddle her. "Hey Fluffers, find anything interesting out there?" He asked while scratching her ear. She wagged her tail happily before giving his face a long lick. Mark laughed loudly as Jack wiped his face. "Blech…missed you too, Chica. Thanks for the slobber."

Jack stood up again as Chica sat patiently at their feet. Mark paused for only a second before embracing Jack in a long hug. "It's really good to have you back, Sean."

The younger man hugged back strongly, just as happy to be there. "It's great to be back." Jack then pulled away and smiled at him. "Get some sleep, Mark, we've got a big day of planning tomorrow!"

Mark laughed at Jack's enthusiasm: even when the other man was dead on his feet he still found the energy to be upbeat. He watched him with a fond smile as Jack disappeared, taking a few seconds to think on what lay ahead.

"Oh yeah, these three weeks are going to be great."

So, that's the end of the first chapter of I Am Me. I hope you all enjoyed it, and please feel free to leave me your thoughts! I'm still aiming to upload around once a week, so keep and eye out. I'll be back soon!

*Smooch*