Marni is a dancer in this fanfic, much like how Mag is a singer.

Marni told him that she fawned over sunsets. No matter what she was doing, she would pause to the watch the glowing ball sink gently behind the horizon. Her sheepish excuse would always be that the tantalizing rays had magically spirited her away. Nathan had learned that the hard way on their first "date."

They'd chosen a quiet spot on their campus's quad, its lush green grass and soft flowers undisturbed by the tent poles of novelty surgical stations that would spring up like menacing weeds a mere decade after the two's graduation. Classes had been dismissed for the day, and Marni had found herself in need of a tutor. Mag wasn't taking the same course, and to add insult to injury, the first semester of her freshman year had just begun, leaving her behind the eight ball for a trusted associate to be her mentor. Luckily for her, her professor had suggested a kindly sophomore, Nathan Wallace, as a reliable choice.

"Marni!"

She tore away from her love affair with the sunset, and cocked her head to the side in an innocent fashion. "Yes?"

Nathan's glasses were in one hand, while the other hand rubbed his eyes in frustration. "I understand if you don't get this material right away, but please don't tune me out!" She quickly said that she was sorry. Even though he was a bit of a brain, the young man was sweet, and Marni didn't want to offend him. Unfortunately, this had been the second time she'd let her attention waver away from him, and for the same reason.

"I just hope I'm not boring you already," he muttered, sounding disappointed as he replaced his glasses.

"Oh no, no, no! It's not that! It's um, well..." She let her voice trail off, feeling utterly silly. His questioning look carried her on. "Well, I like to watch the sunset."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "The sunset?"

"Yeah! I mean, look! It's like a fire in the sky!" She replied enthusiastically, gesturing behind her.

Wallace found he couldn't help but chuckle at her pure joy. Marni resembled a bright-eyed child on Christmas morning over this little thing that he never cared much about day by day. With a smile, he reopened the book on his lap. "Come on, let's finish up."

XXXXX

After two years had rolled by, Nathan found himself sharing at least a fraction of his friend's eagerness, especially since she was much more than that now. They often dawdled around after class to watch the sun make its evening pilgrimage. They sat upon the library stairs or the quad's lawn during weekdays, and climbed to the tops of city buildings to see it on weekends before a night exploring what the metropolis had to offer. Sometimes Mag came along, and others they were alone. Happy as these occasions were, Nathan knew very well the weight that was bogging it all down, and knew that Mag saw it as well. Marni smiled much less now. Mag thought it was because of Marni's father passing away. Nathan, however, knew of another reason.

It had been an agonizingly long day for Wallace, thanks to him having to stow away in the library on a Friday night, packing all information he could for his paper. What professor in his right mind would have a paper due at the beginning of a week after one day's notice?! Finally, a half hour away from ten after three solid hours of nonstop research, the student somehow tiredly picked up his books, notebooks, and papers, which all seemed to be made of solid lead at the moment, and began to crawl back to his dorm to pass out for the night.

He hadn't gotten very far when he heard a soft sobbing. Naturally, the library's grounds had been deserted, and the echoing hallways easily carried the sound to him. It appeared to be coming from one of the hallways that connected the library to the main building. Following the noise out of a dazed curiosity, he found that its source was the ladies' restroom.

Nathan tensed as the closer proximity allowed him to identify the source of the noise. He knew who that voice had belonged to quite well: Marni. He didn't see her very often anymore, ever since she started going out with that creep, Rotti. Largo was a hulk compared to Nathan, who tried to stay out of his way as often as he could. Not to mention that he had his hangers-on, a powerful mind, and a boundless supply of charisma to go with it.

Wallace bitterly recounted when Marni had told him that she was going out with Rotti, saying that he seemed to be a great guy. Seemed, that was the key word. In reality, he was very possessive of the poor girl, not letting other males near her, including Nathan. It wouldn't have mattered to young Wallace so much if he hadn't become so attracted to her. He knew exactly what Rotti liked her for, though he'd be damned to say it to her face. Then again, what guy in his right mind wouldn't desire those lean legs from years of dancing? Nathan, however, liked her for the air of purity she carried around herself. She always seemed to brighten up the day. What he wouldn't give...

The sound of Marni blowing her nose broke him out of his reverie. He could keep walking, for he was tired. Besides, what if he was caught entering the restroom of the opposite sex? Nothing good, that was for sure. On the other hand, she seemed genuinely hurt, and Mag didn't appear to be around, a fact that was odd in itself.

With a sigh, he made his choice. Nathan set his books upon a shadowed patch of the floor, glanced around to see if anyone was coming, and slipped into the restroom. What he found inside tore at him. Marni was fumbling through her purse over the rim of a sink set against the right wall. Telltale black stains starkly contrasted the white marble. Her hair was hanging over her face. "Go away!" she yelled in a choked-up voice.

"Marni, it's only me," he reassured, calmly walking toward her.

"Nathan?!" Her head jerked up in surprise to reveal puffy red eyes with black tears trailing from them, a running nose, and a grotesque bruise on her right cheek. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to jerk her head down fast enough for him to not see that. He felt a chill go up his spine as he cleared the distance between them. He was now holding a paper towel, courtesy of one of the dispensers.

"What happened?" He asked urgently as she gingerly took it from, but he could already guess. The too-nice-to-be-casual clothes gave it away.

Nathan's hand grasped the rim of one of the sinks. He squeezed it to let out his anger as she muttered, "Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it?! Marni, look at yourself!" He yelled.

"Would it kill you to be quiet?" She hissed as she wiped off her mascara.

"We need to fix you up. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"I'm fine, Dad," she growled sarcastically through her teeth. She pointedly turned her back on him as she threw out the towel.

With a sigh, Nathan tried a different tactic. "Relax, I won't tell anyone."

She whirled on him, her puffy eyes narrowing. "You promise? Even Mag?" That was why Mag wasn't in the room. Marni hadn't wanted her to worry. He nodded, deciding to leave whether to say anything up to her. A ghost of smile formed on Marni's lips. "Thanks."

Her hand went back into her purse, prodding him to ask, "What're you looking for?" His question was answered as she drew out a compact.

"This is gonna take a little time," she said to herself as she stared down at it.

"That's it?" Nathan asked, incredulous. Bruises lasted up to two weeks. She'd have to put on act for that long. He wondered if the sink was going to break under his grip as he pictured her returning to that bastard.

She shook her head as she stared into the mirror mounted above her sink. "I'll take care of it. It's my own dumb mistake."

"Marni—"

Her head swung around, a set expression on her face. "I mean it, Nathan. I don't need to see the crap beat out of you for something I did." He couldn't help but smile a little at her protectiveness, though he was warring against himself about letting her go.

After a moment of hesitation, with Marni watching him for the duration of the time, open compact poised in her right hand, he relented, his hand sliding off of the sink. "All right, but if it happens again, I'm going to do something about it. Got it?"

The compact snapped shut, and she thrust her arms around him. "Thank you." He didn't know what to say, feeling overwhelmed by how close she was to him, the scent of her perfume hitting him like a wave. He blushed madly as she kissed him on the cheek. She let go of him with a smile, turning back to the sink. Before Nathan took his leave, he caught a glance of himself in the mirror. A red lip mark was on his face, matching the crimson of the sunset Marni so loved.

XXXXX

Blood flowed with breathtaking beauty as the Repo Man pulled the lungs he'd been sent to retrieve out of his victim with graceful accuracy. The doctor grinned under his mask as he let the corpse unceremoniously fall to the ground, thinking it funny that most saw it as a killing, while he viewed it as a practice of art. He'd almost shied away from his first victim, thinking of it as a way of destroying his humanity. That had all changed when he saw the blood's color, and realized how closely it resembled the sunset...It was a pleasure that helped to make the killing addicting to Nathan, that one color.