Just a quick note to my readers and reviewers: thank you very much for your input and ideas; it definitely means a lot and helps me grow as a writer. I apologize for the late update, but writing has to take a backseat to real-life when issues arise; I know we all understand that. Also just a heads-up, I'm about to cross over into "M" territory, so please take that word of caution so my conscience is cleared, ha ha. Enjoy!

13 Steps, a Regular Show fanfiction.

Step Three: The Martyr

"Margaret?"

"Hmm?"

"You never told me how your day went."

The robin's gaze met mine with an unreadable expression which contrasted with her intoxicating curves. Moonlight peered through her slitted window blinds, the rays giving her a glow that was nothing short of heavenly. She snorted with laughter unexpectedly, catching me off-guard. "Mordecai, we just had sex and NOW you want to know how my day was? Don't you think that's a little ridiculous?"

I sat up a little at her blunt remark, her satin sheets sliding down to my lap, red creeping to my cheeks. "Well, uh, tonight kinda felt...rushed, you know?"

That stare.

"I'm not, like, complaining but-"

She gave out a long, dramatic sigh but was still grinning, shaking her head softly. "Come here," she cooed, and pulled me into another kiss, her warm tongue sliding along mine, renewed heat radiating from invisible waves. With that, I felt my inhibitions melt away...

As the earlier memory came to a close in my mind, I found myself back in the present, like a black-and-white film that suddenly changes scenes into grainy color. Margaret was fast asleep, back to me, oblivious to the feelings she was causing me. I sighed, my gaze upon her open window, watching passing car lights illuminate the darkness. I should be asleep next to her, holding her in my arms, yet I couldn't sleep because my mind was racing a mile a minute.

For more than a year I had fought my shyness and doubts, figuring she would reject me if I ever gained the courage to ask her out. I watched as guy after guy caught her eye and each one would leave the picture after a short while. Deep down I knew in between those gaps of new lovers I could have made my move. For so long I ignored the medicine I needed and suffered from schoolboy crushitis.

Had she known all along? Did she wait for me?

It wasn't until three months ago, to the date, that she showed up to the park's rec house where Rigby and I lived, the night Benson had gone out of town and a party was planned behind his back. "Muscle Man invited me," she had said with a smile that night, a plastic cup in her winged hand. "I didn't know you guys actually lived here, you know, in the park."

It was wrong in a way, but one of the first things I noticed was she wasn't with arm candy...that's right, completely single and ready to mingle. Maybe it was the cheap beer, maybe it was courage that had slowly built up inside of me, but I found myself chatting with her more than a few awkward words. Actual sentences, actual conversation...it was awesome. Rigby had come and gone throughout the night, his moods rapidly changing like the flickering broken light in the dining room. That night I had thought nothing of it, if not for selfish reasons. Eventually a lamp shade had become his new headwear of choice; the beer had caught up with him.

"FIST PUMP! OHHHH!" he had screamed over and over, trying to get everyone around him to bump fists. Luckily Rigby had a certain tipsy charm about him and many of our guests happily obliged. Eventually he made his way over to us once more.

"Fist pump Margaret, yeah-uh!" he yelled, laughing and offering a fist to Margaret. She giggled and returned it, thinking it was hilarious. "Go Rigby!" she laughed, egging him on. The raccoon turned to me next, grinning ear-to-ear. "Mordooo, fist pump!"

I rolled my eyes, huffing slightly. He was taking away from my time with the robin and I wasn't exactly thrilled about it. "Yeah, Rigby, fist pump. Woo." My sarcasm was starting to show apparently, because Rigby's stare darkened. I looked away, wishing he would just leave us alone.

"C'mon, Mordo, give him a bump!" I turned to Margaret who was still giggling, waving me on with her wings. I sighed, deciding that if I wanted to keep my night and conversation with my crush going, I better give Rigby what he wanted. I folded my wing into a fist shape, holding it out to my best friend. Our fists collided softly, and I felt Rigby's icy stare, my eyes avoiding his. He didn't press it, and walked away in an eerily calm manner. What was his problem?

I turned back to the robin and smiled. She smiled back and moved closer to me, reaching out the rub my shoulder. "That was sweet of you Mordecai." She obviously hadn't noticed Rigby's weird exit, but maybe that was a good thing. "It was nothing, he's just being Rigby," I shrugged lightly.

She nodded, and I noticed her wing softly caressing mine until we were cupping them. I blushed, hard, my mouth getting dry, like it was stuffed with cottonballs. This only happened in those cheesy romantic comedies, where the guy makes the girl laugh and eventually they fall in love and...

"Mordecai," Margaret brought me back down to Earth. "Are you alright?"

I nodded back, forcing a smile. I held her wing a bit tighter, squeezing it softly. I could do this. I could do this. I could-

I leaned into her, my beak meeting hers, and in that moment my world shrunk down to two, any noise, image and color had disappeared in a flash and my heart was soaring at twenty thousand feet. It was broken too quickly, over as fast as it had begun, and our eyes met once again.

"Was that so hard?" Margaret suddenly asked, a small, playful grin on her face.

"W-What?" I stuttered, honestly not understanding.

"The kiss. I bet you've been wanting to do that forever."

I froze. She HAD known, all along. I knew I had been awkward around her, but didn't think it was enough to raise a red flag for all to see. I felt my body trembling, a mixture of excitement, embarrassment and hope enveloping my entire being.

Margaret seemed to notice my stone face and kept her warm smile. "Mordecai, it's OK. Really. I think it's kind of cute."

I felt a rush of red creep further into my cheeks. She was so understanding of my own stupidity, but maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought. "Really? You mean it?"

She nodded. "I wish you would have said something sooner, but yeah, I think you're a cute guy. I was waiting for you to make a move, and when you didn't, I figured maybe...there was someone else."

Someone else? Oh man, I was the biggest idiot on the planet. Damn my shyness around this amazing girl. "I'm sorry I didn't say sooner either, because there wasn't anyone else. I've, well, liked you pretty much the moment I met you in the coffee shop. Even in that uniform you looked stunning."

Stay cheesy Mordecai. Oh brother.

She proved my conscience wrong by letting out another giggle. "I hardly think I'm pretty when I'm working but that means a lot. Look, I can't promise anything, but how about you and I go on a date next Saturday? I have it off and we could catch a movie, dinner, whatever."

A date. A real date, with the real Margaret. I mean, of course she was real, but it was- never mind, this was my chance I had been waiting for, hell, dreaming of.

"Sure, sounds like fun," I tried to remark casually, but my voice ended up cracking and betraying me.

You sure puberty already hit?

As I shushed my self-hating conscience, she lit up, genuinely happy. "Great! You can come pick me up at seven, you know where my apartment is, right?"

I nodded, still in a state of disbelief.

"Good. Anyway, I have a breakfast rush shift in the morning, so I have to go. See you soon, Mordo," she giggled, and walked off without another word. That was that.


It's amazing how incredible I had felt that night, a grin plastered on my face that couldn't have be broken by anyone. That first date had gone so well, and the couple ones after that, then the official title, then...

It was the life I dreamed of for months at night when no one was around, not even Rigby had access to my deepest desires. I looked over at Margaret's sleeping form again and sighed softly. This is what I wanted, right? Yeah. I mean, hey, she was the one that usually took charge and that was OK, I mean, she's strong-willed. She's planned all of our dates because she's good at picking places. She's the one who took my V-card. I trusted her.

Unfortunately, I knew sleep wasn't going to come here, so I carefully sat up and creeped to her bed, leaning down to kiss her head. "Good night." She mumbled something unintelligent in her state of sleep and I chuckled, watching her for a moment in the hall before closing the door as softly as I could.


It was a brisk night, the air still, and I cursed myself for not bringing a jacket. The warmth of the rec house greeted me and I let out a breath, free from the chill on my feathers. I carefully crept up the stairs, the creaking steps making it a difficult feat. It wasn't until I was at the top of the staircase that I heard a rumbling, steady and persistent. What the h was that?

My eyes darted from room to room. Quiet from Benson's room. Quiet from Pop's. That leaves-

The door to our bedroom creaked open with a whine, my pupils dilating to adjust to the darkness. The the corner of the room moonlight was pouring in and directly casting a shadow onto Rigby's trampoline. On top of it was a lump covered with a blanket, and it was then I found the source of the rumbling.

Snoring. D'uh.

"Dude, you sound like a freight train," I laughed, and ripped the sheet off.

It was a couple pillows. What the?

"You sound like a dumbass," I heard a voice say with a slurred accent. I turned toward the voice and saw Rigby sitting on my bed, a huge smile on his face, though the first thing I noticed was it didn't look friendly. "How was your date, or should I say, fuck session with Maaaarrrrgaret?"

"Dude, not cool," I said, anger creeping in my voice. What was going on?

I walked over to him and he laughed, swinging his legs a little bit. "I'm so sorry bro, I could. Not. Resist."

I sniffed the air, acrid and sharp to my senses. It smelled familiar, but I couldn't quite place it in that moment.

"Rigby, what have you been doing?"

He just laughed again and shook his finger at me. "Nothing man, just enjoying some...me time." Another giggle.

Rigby never wanted "me time", he was always hanging out with someone. Something wasn't right.

As I shuffled to the foot of my bed my foot hit something and I heard a sloshing sound. That definitely wasn't normal. I bent down and felt around for whatever my foot had hit, and found it. Pulling it out, it was...

"Rigby, seriously?" I looked at the bottle of vodka and frowned. If he had drank with me it would have not been as bad, and he wasn't one to have hard liquor. Plus, I noticed grimly, half the bottle was empty.

"Yeah Mordecai, don't get mad, it's cool," he burped and laughed once again, amused with the whole situation. "I'm fineee."

I shook my head, not knowing whether to be angry or disappointed in him. It was embarrassing. "Rigby, not on a work night man, we have to be up early!"

He dismissed me with a wave of a hand. "I said I'll be fine. I'm tired. Let's go to bed."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, get off my bed and get on yours."

He suddenly looked up, eyes wide and alarmed. "No, I can't, there's something...over...there." He pointed to the trampoline. "Please don't make me, let me sleep here!"

He looked afraid but I knew it was the alcohol talking. "There's nothing over there Rigby, so get off and GO TO BED."

At this he started whimpering, looking down. "Mordecai, please bro, please. Pl-"

"Alright!" I yelled, too exhausted to fight off. "Get in and scoot all the way over."

He hiccuped and smiled, crawling into the bed in almost an instant, looking at me with gratitude. I sighed and crawled in next to him, wondering if he'd even remember this in the morning.

"Good night, Mordecai. Th-thanks bro," he yawned, snuggling into my unused pillow.

"Night Rigby," I sighed, closing my eyes. I suddenly felt him a small arm around my waist and my eyes shot back open. My mouth opened to scold him but I heard the snores resume. It would have to wait until morning.

Well, there's chapter 3 for you guys, I hope you enjoyed a past and present glimpse at what our heroes are working with. As always, comments, critiques and reviews are always welcomed. See you next chapter, where one of the two will die...

of embarrassment. Sorry, that was mean. Later!