Alright, back again. Sorry it's no longer a weekly updated story, behind with others that need done, and i'm writing for a few new genres as well.

Anyway, picking up from the cliffhanger.

EDIT: Figured i'd answer one of the reviews to clarify things. It may become MordXOC later on, but it definitely won't be Martin if that's what you're thinking. The scene in this chapter with him is just to set up his carefree personality and to more explain his duality later on.


Chapter 6: Found Out About You (Part 1)

"All last summer, in case you don't recall
I was yours, and you were mine
Forget it all

Is there a line that I could write
That's sad enough to make you cry
All the lines you wrote to me were lies
Months roll past, the love that you struck dead
Did you love me, only in my head?

Things you said and did to me
Seemed to come so easily
The love I thought I'd won, you give for free

Whispers at the bus stop
I've heard about nights in the schoolyard

I found out about you."

- The Gin Blossoms

[][][]

His face was emotionless, nothing on his mind but the road in front of him. The revving of the engine was deafening, but he shown no sign of slowing down.

50... 56... 63...

He increased the pressure on the throttle, the powerful engine causing the wheels to spin, even at this high of speed.

88... 101...

In the mirror, the flash of a light told him the traffic camera triggered as he passed the red light. Not that it managed to catch him on film.

115... 125... 133...

Not knowing where he was, or even where he was going, he kept the pedal held. The engine was protesting, a sign that he was reaching the limit. He slammed it the rest of the way and pushed the button for overdrive.

140... 142... 144...

His headlights were brighter than anything he'd ever seen, the symptom of an overcharging alternator. However, they managed to show a line of trees ahead, having left the pavement long ago.

146... 147... 148...

The needle of the speedometer had long ago stopped showing numbers, and now rested against the blocking pin. The trees didn't move. Mostly because they're trees, and they don't move. Snapping out of his trance, Mordecai slammed on the brakes and struggled to keep from losing control.

150... 133... 117...

The road curved left before the trees, however, the rear end of the truck began to shift toward the inside of the corner.

77... 63... 49...

Still too fast. Not knowing what else to do, he cut the wheel and slammed on the gas.

The rear end swung around and he entered the corner in a slide. He held the wheel, suddenly realizing how much easier the cart was to handle. The truck followed the corner, it's driver side tires slowly lifting off the ground.

Now at the end of the corner, he began to straighten the wheel, the fishtailing of the rear end being easier to control than the entire truck.

Holding steady at thirty-five, he attempted to breathe, knowing it would take awhile. The engine rumbled quietly, happy to return to it's normal RPM.

He shook his head and looked in the mirror, making sure that he really survived it and this wasn't a dying hallucination.

The beeping of the gas gauge sounded like a bomb going off inside his head.

Once finding a big enough area, he turned around, this time keeping well under the speed limit.

[][][]

Word travels fast, and by the morning, Benson had already caught wind of what happened.

What started as Pops' calling Thomas when Mordecai didn't return to the house, turned into a manhunt of phone calls, trying to find out where he was.

Thomas had been growing more and more nervous from covering for Rigby that he finally reached his limit and told Pops' what was going on. From there came Skips, who started by asking Rigby where he went. It took all of his patience to remain calm, but Skips managed to keep from blowing up.

After an hour of phone and walkie tag, Benson was called. He was… less than excited about being woken up, but helped where he could.

Eventually they decided that he needed some time to himself.

So now, ten minutes after work started, Benson was knocking on the door.

"Come on, Mordecai, get up! We're not doing this again!"

He sighed loudly and stopped his barrage on the door, "Look, I get that you may have liked this girl, but there's better ways to handle this."

He waited for an answer and tried the doorknob, finding it locked, "Come on, some work will take your mind off of everything."

He was startled by the loud yawn that came from the end of the hallway.

Mordecai stretched and fumbled the door keys from his pocket, "Oh, hey Benson. Sorry I'm late today."

Benson stepped aside, surprised at his level of normalcy compared to the last time, "It's… alright."

Mordecai pushed the door open and yawned again, "I'm just gonna grab a quick shower then I'll be good to go."

Benson nodded, "Take your time. I'll be outside when you're done."

[][][]

Rigby knocked on the wall of the garage to get Skips' attention, "Skips', the lawn mower quit running."

"I'll look at it later."

Rigby turned to leave but stopped, "Hey, about last night…"

Skips tossed a wrench to the side and grabbed another, "I thought long and hard about it, and I think I'd like to stay out of this one. However, if you want my two cents, I think it was a terrible thing to do."

"Yeah, but-"

"I don't wanna hear it. I'm staying out of it. I'll fix the mower, in the meantime use the push one."

Rigby turned around and began the walk to the shed, mumbling how he hated the push mower.

[][][]

Mordecai pulled the door closed behind him and slid on his baseball cap. As promised, Benson was waiting, leaning against the front of the truck with his arms folded.

"Sorry about that."

Benson nodded, "It's alright."

"So, what's my assignment for today?" Mordecai asked, hoping some work would keep his mind occupied.

He motioned toward the truck, "We need to go to the lawn store and get something for the mower."

Happy that it would include more driving, he climbed behind the wheel.

Benson held off the conversation until they were well on the highway.

"So, how's it holding up?"

Mordecai shrugged, "Everything seems alright. Not that great on gas, and the headlights tend to get brighter every now and then."

He nodded, "Yeah, an engine that big is always gonna be bad on gas. The headlights is probably the alternator."

"What's that?"

"Well," he began, trying to think of how to explain it, "It uses the power of the engine to charge the battery and use the headlights and stuff like that. When it's going bad, it either overcharges or doesn't at all. When it quits, the battery will try to run everything until it's dead, then it'll leave you stranded somewhere."

"So, how do we know when it goes bad?"

Benson looked behind the steering wheel, "When the engine's running on the battery a light will pop on. That's the easiest way to tell."

"Maybe I should order one. Just in case."

"That'd be the smart thing to do. Definitely if you're still planning on going out of town. Stop by the shop on the way home and I'll show you which to get."

Mordecai shrugged, "I'm not so sure about going now."

"I think it's a good idea. Instead of staying Friday night, why not stay all weekend and leave Monday?"

"You think so?"

"Yeah," Benson said, leaning against the door, "You've been working a lot lately. Some time off is just what you need right now."

Mordecai didn't say anything for a moment, "This the next turn?"

"Yeah."

He hit the turn signal and merged into the lane for their exit.

"You know, between you and Rigby. I can't say I'm not surprised. He may be a lazy bum, but I never thought he'd stoop that low."

"It's not a big deal."

"What I'm trying to say," Benson started, having trouble finishing his thought, "If you ever need to… You know."

Mordecai did his best to fake a smile, "Yeah, I get it. Thanks."

[][][]

"This apartment consists of nearly half the entire fourth floor," the man said as he opened the door and stepped aside for Mordecai to enter.

As Mordecai walked around, he began reading the features and information from the listing, "Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full kitchen, and a sunken lounge area."

The place was huge. Hardwood floors everywhere except the kitchen and lounge area, which appeared to have new tile and carpet. Along the back wall was the kitchen, a new-ish refrigerator and stove were lined up with the cabinets and sink.

The lounge area was sunken as the man had said, and had a custom sofa built into the circular steps across from a large TV. The windows beside it looked as if they were just replaced.

Other than that, the apartment was empty. All the rooms were bare, lacking beds and even dressers. But still, the place wasn't bad.

The bedrooms were lined together along the wall beside the kitchen, leaving a good ten by twenty space for whatever else.

"- which the building is right on the outskirts of the city, so it's rather quiet around here."

"Not for long," Mordecai said quietly.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing. So, what does it cost a month to rent?"

The man chuckled slightly, "First time buyer?"

"That noticeable?"

"This is a little different from renting. What you do in this case is buy the apartment then pay for the utilities. Electricity, water, stuff like that."

"That is different," Mordecai said, turning toward the door as Martin walked in.

"What'd you think, honey?"

Mordecai laughed nervously, "What're you talking about?"

The realtor's expression shown confusion, but he tried his best to maintain a professional demeanor, "So, if you'd like, Mr. Light, I can show you the-"

Martin shook his head, "Nah, that's alright. I'll take it."

Mordecai now shared the realtor's confusion, "Are you sure?"

He nodded, "Yup, it's got everything I want."

"But you didn't even look at it."

"I'll have everything transferred to the account, and we'll go from there."

The realtor realized he wasn't joking and was ecstatic, "Wonderful! That's great news! I'll contact a notary and we could sign the deed this weekend."

Martin smiled, "That'd be great. See you then."

They left the apartment, quiet until the elevator doors closed.

"Okay, you didn't look at anything, but it has everything?"

The grin never left his face, "I know, it's great, isn't it?"

"I don't get it."

"Come take a look."

They left the elevator and started walking along the parking lot, Mordecai attempting to understand the mind of Martin Light.

They eventually came to a row of large doors similar to that on a barn. He swung them open and pushed them into the opening in the wall.

He flipped the light switch and it was then that he realized what he meant, and he started chuckling.

"Isn't it perfect?"

Behind the doors was a large, two and a half car garage, complete with a sparkling black and white tile floor. Along the edges were spaces for tools and equipment with a large bench running along the entire back wall.

"This is the reason you bought the apartment?"

He nodded, his eyes glinting in the sun, "I plan to spend more time here than the apartment, anyway."

Mordecai sighed, "You and Skips have too much in common."

[][][]

Martin leaned against the door of the truck as Mordecai signaled for an upcoming turn.

"Hey, Mordecai, do me a favor."

He nodded, "Sure."

"After this corner, punch the gas."

"What?" he asked, blinking.

Martin sat up in his seat, "Hit the gas. I wanna see something."

"Alright."

As soon as Mordecai straightened the wheel, he pushed the pedal as far as it'd go. The engine revved loudly as they launched forward. It seemed the same as usual, but Martin shook his head and started laughing.

"What? That's great for a truck, isn't it?"

"That's not why I'm laughing," he said, "I'm laughing because someone governed the engine."

Mordecai hit the brakes to stop for the light, "Yeah, I don't know what that means."

"Tsk, tsk. I keep forgetting. It means that somebody messed with the engine to keep it from reaching it's full potential."

Mordecai didn't know what to think. It was fast, how could it not be running on everything it has.

"I'm sure they had a reason, but I could tell by the way it takes off. Sure it spins the tires, but it should be doing a lot more."

He pulled into the parking lot and stopped beside Martin's car, "I don't know. It's too fast for that to be true."

Martin shrugged, "Anyway, thanks for going with me to look at that place."

"No problem."

He shut the door and watched the truck pull away.

"No," he said, rubbing his hand on the trunk of his own car, remembering how destroyed the rear end was from the accident with the truck that hit his father, "Couldn't be the Black Tear."

He opened his door and fell into the seat, knowing full well it was.

"We better get ready."

[][][]

Skips was leaning against the fender of the truck, watching as Mordecai finished putting in the alternator.

"Alright, now tighten the bolts for the wires, and you're done."

Mordecai nodded, straining to make sure it was tight, "Okay, I think that's it."

Skips reached inside and started the engine, "Now, we can check and make sure it's working."

Mordecai stood back as Skips plugged some kind of device into the battery. After a moment he unplugged it.

"Yep, it's working."

"Oooohhh!" Mordecai yelled while he slammed the hood.

Benson walked out of the house, "How is it?"

"Running like a dream."

"Check the oil?"

Mordecai nodded, "Just added a quart."

"Anti-freeze?"

Mordecai held up a large jug of water, "Full, but I got this just in case."

"Headlight fluid?"

Mordecai sighed, "No, I forgot to check that."

Skips tried his best to keep from laughing but couldn't help it.

Benson laughed as well, "There is no such thing as headlight fluid."

Mordecai nodded, "Alright, you got me."

"Well, I guess that's everything."

He nodded and picked his backpack off the ground, "Yeah, guess so."

"If anything happens, let me or Skips know."

"Will do."

Mordecai nodded and climbed behind the wheel. He tossed his bag into the passenger seat and dropped into drive, watching the park house disappear in the rearview mirror.

Before heading out of town, he decided to stop at the diner.

"Oh, hey Mordecai."

"Hey, Eileen," he said as he reached the counter, "I just need a coffee to go."

"To go?"

He nodded, "Yeah, going back home for the weekend. Just need something to keep me awake on the drive."

"Okay, just one second."

She came back a moment later with a large, plastic mug with a screw on lid, "Here. Just so you don't spill it or anything."

"Thanks. How much?"

She waved her hands, "Don't worry about it. On the house."

"Awesome, thanks."

"Look," she began, sorry to bring it up, "I know the way you found out probably wasn't the best, and I shouldn't have kept it from you."

"It's not a big deal," he lied, not wanting to have this conversation before he left.

"Is it?"

The words seemed to hang in the air, neither one of them apologizing for it.

"Mordecai! You didn't leave yet" Martin said as he walked to register and gave him a shove, "You didn't say goodbye."

"Ha, it's just for the weekend."

Martin glanced over the counter, "I'm not interrupting anything?"

Mordecai shook his head, "No, Eileen this is Martin. Martin, Eileen."

He nodded, "A pleasure."

"Likewise."

"Anyway," he said, taking a CD case from his pocket, "I felt you deserved to borrow my long drive mix. Guaranteed to help pass the time."

Mordecai took the CD, "Thanks, I'll give it to you when I get back."

"Believe me, you're gonna love it," Martin said with a grin, knowing the real reason he gave it to him.


There you have it. Next we have what happens on the trip, more about Rigby, and Martin's reason to giving him the CD.

Sorry again that it took so long. I'm swamped at the moment and will definitely put more time into the next one.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it.