A/N: I think the theme for this fic should be 'Everyone is going to get hurt before this is over.'

This is a Jim heavy chapter but only because Tom and Marcus are unavailable for most of it. I honestly never expected to give Jim more attention but I was inspired. Sorry if it bugs anyone who dislikes OCs.


Obeying orders was never Jim's style. Especially if he believes he's in the right. It's a nasty habit he never got rid of while growing up. It doesn't help that his size and deep voice make people second guess their demands when they come face to face with him. It's partly why Douglas kept him as an assistant/partner. Donald and his suck ups didn't mess with them if Jim was in the area. This is why he hides along the edges of the forest after Tom had told him to leave the trailer. There's no way he'll try to change now that he's about to die.

He frowns momentarily because Tom had practically thrown him out the door. It's a feat only a handful of people have ever accomplished and even those people had had some difficulty.

He pushes that thought away wondering how long the burn out will take. The blast radius was never a problem before. In the originals, the most a burn out would do would be frying the circuits and maybe a few melted parts but with all the different mods in Marcus? Jim scowls because the amount of weapons stocked in Marcus is enough to level the whole valley. Maybe even more depending on the structure of the core.

A terror laced scream almost makes him jump out of his skin. He's up and running towards the trailer intent on seeing what's happening.

He breaks through the front door before cringing at the loud shriek cutting through his ears. He sees Tom on his knees next to Marcus. The man's back is arched in agony while one hand claws at his face. His other hand is fisted tightly over the compromised core. Jim stumbles back for a moment because Tom doesn't look like Tom anymore. Tom's pale skin is melting away. For a second it makes him think of the Blue Man Group before he snaps into action.

Jim tries to pull Tom away from Marcus but the minute there's skin contact he lets go. His hands turn red and it blisters so much that he thinks he'll pass out from the pain. Tom is still screaming and the only way he can think of stopping him is by knocking him out.

Jim drops the dented pan as soon as Tom is unconscious. He inspects the bruised temple, wincing when his burnt fingers grow hot again. He's left breathing heavily as the sting in his hands worsens and he wonders what he's supposed to do.

"I'm too sober to handle this shit."

::O:O:O::

He can't separate them.

Jim learns the hard way when he receives another welt along his arm when he tries to move Tom again. Even when he's careful to avoid skin contact it's too difficult. Tom feels like he weighs a ton and doesn't even budge. He talks himself out of punching Tom but only barely. The bottle of whiskey he downed is already starting to catch up to him. Instead, he does his best to clean the cuts from the unconscious man's face so they won't become infected.

He tries to make Tom more comfortable without actually touching him. Somewhere in the back of his mind a voice is telling him the table is not going to stay up with Marcus on top and Tom's weight slumped against it.

He scratches his bandages while he waits for the laptop to boot up. It's difficult to fit all of his equipment in the tiny kitchen. He eyes his backup PC resting dangerously close to the sink wondering if he should move it closer. He's done his best to set out extra wires and cables, anything that might fry in case a surge of power from Marcus is too much.

He manages to connect several cables into access ports that remain intact. He grits his teeth as he carefully avoids the white shards of ice building around Tom's hand and the core. If he's learned anything from his younger years as an engineer it's that some things shouldn't be tampered with. He takes a deep breath deciding he should begin now before something else happens.

Jim grumbles because it's a mess. He remembers dealing with the first androids on the verge of collapse or burn out but this takes the cake. The structure of Marcus' code is very different from his records of the first three generations he helped create. He doesn't know whether he should congratulate Douglas or choke him. He's at a loss for what to do when he's asked to log in. Before, Marcus had been the one giving him access to his damage reports. He hesitantly types what would have been his user name and password had Marcus been one of the originals and stares in disbelief when it works.

User 2 – JWEBER

Log in accepted.

After finally making some head way through the jumble of static and encrypted data he sighs in relief. He frowns as he reads the error report and warnings that blink from orange to red. He jumps in deciding the sooner he can crack the administrator password the sooner he can get Marcus online. He decides to start with the password Douglas used to favor when they worked together.

He can't help but snort in amusement when he logs in to Marcus' Control Panel. Either Douglas figured Jim would never meet his creation or he was too cocky to bother changing it. Then again his user name was added to Marcus. He wonders if Douglas had future plans to contact him for his schemes.

Jim removes Douglas as a user and creates a third user as a backup. He continues shifting through files and activates the Imprint Protocol. He enters the simplest commands he can think of hoping the imprint will latch on to the nearest human. If Marcus wakes, the imprinting program would protect anyone the boy might not recognize upon waking. The last thing he wants is to be shot at or worse.

The computer beeps after the update is successful and he hesitates to initiate the synchronization to adjust the core's energy output. If he messes up there's no going back.

The first ping is sent as a courtesy handshake before delving deeper in case Marcus is aware. When there's no reply he sends another hoping there'll be an answer. He sighs as he starts the process of setting up a backup of Marcus' remaining memory disks. Better to be prepared in case something goes wrong during the sync.

A low groan startles him.

He almost reaches out to touch Tom but stops himself at the last second. No way is he going to burn himself again.

Jim steps back, "Jesus Almighty…"

Tom's eyes are ruby red under the half lidded gaze. The color of his eyes makes his skin appear darker and even more menacing under the dim glow of the kitchen light. Jim snaps his mouth shut when the laptop starts beeping.

"No," he whispers trying to fix the corrupted code running across the screen. He's startled when Marcus' body spasms. He thinks he hears Tom whisper something but he's too busy setting up firewalls to pay attention. He wants to tell Tom he's being foolish because Marcus is shut down and wouldn't be able to hear or acknowledge his words.

The loop happens again and again no matter how much he tries to remove it. Somehow everything keeps breaking down and it stops the sync. It gets so bad that Marcus' good eye bursts from the stress running through his system.

Tom stays next to Marcus, ice covered hand gripping the core, until he's shocked by a glitching wire. He stumbles back in surprise rubbing his burned hand. The loud snap is enough to draw Jim's attention and he can only stare in disbelief. The ice over the core begins to melt and coagulate as it spreads. The liquid becomes a green bioluminescent light and it shimmers when it touches sparking wires.

"That… can't be normal," Jim whispers, "Did you do that?"

Tom stares in confusion, "No, I-I didn't…"

His voice trails off as he and Jim continue to gawk at Marcus. The strange glow disappears and both men are awestruck by what's left behind. It's almost as if Marcus was never injured.

The laptop beeps.

Jim frowns because the loop that kept disrupting everything is gone and the sync is almost complete. He sees the timer in the corner blink at him so he hurries. He scans through Marcus' code worrying. It's been so long since he's been this deep in a machine he doesn't know if he still has it in him to fix any remaining errors. He doesn't keep the look of dismay from his face when he accesses Marcus' processor.

::O:O:O::

"I guess you know I'm not human."

Jim rolls his eyes, "Obviously."

"I couldn't tell you," Tom's voice wavers, "You would think I'm insane if I mentioned anything about magic or-"

"Yeah, because it's not insane to go around gutting people? Come on, Tom, you could have said something in the last ten years we've known each other."

"You wouldn't have listened!"

Jim points an accusing finger and yells back, "Oh, yeah, well how would you know? You never gave me the chance! You never trusted me! Is your name even Tom?"

"No."

When he doesn't continue Jim snorts, "Yeah, this is totally not helping."

"My name is, or should I say was, Loki."

Jim gives him a skeptical look before asking, "Loki? As in the God of Lies from Norse mythology?"

Tom nods.

Jim rubs his eyes and turns away to pick up his things around the kitchen. He pointedly avoids looking at Tom because he's angry with the man. He sees the man fidget uncomfortably from the corner of his eye but he continues ignoring him.

"It was never my intention to make you feel betrayed."

The man scoffs as he turns, "Well, how should I feel? It's not like you were ever willing to share your life's story. Christ, even asking a simple question was worse than pulling out a bad tooth."

He watches Tom – no, Loki – pace angrily.

"Forgive me if I didn't feel like opening old wounds," Loki snarls, "While we're on the subject of past lives, what about yours? Hmm?"

"Oh, no, don't turn this back on me," Jim folds his arms across his chest before continuing, "I never denied anything and you never cared enough to ask for more."

"Our friendship is a sham."

"I never said that. God, why are you like this? You were never like this before."

Loki hisses, "That wasn't me! I am not the man you befriended! I am not what you want me to be! This life is a farce!"

"So?" Jim scowls, "Start over! Show me something real I can work with! Tell me who my friend is!"

Loki looks away, hands fisting tightly at his sides.

"Tom."

"That-that is not my name," Loki mutters, "And I do not belong here."

"What? Are you running away?" Jim takes a step forward. His face turning pink with barely controlled fury. "Because that's what you did last time, right?

"Don't."

Jim takes another step, "And it worked out so well, right?"

"Please."

The man stops when Loki's face pinches in distress.

"I do not wish to leave," he whispers, "It's easier to let go of this life if you hate me and Marcus never sees me."

Jim places a hand on the slim shoulder and pulls until he has the raven haired man in a bear hug. His words sound muffled as he speaks against Loki's long hair.

"If you don't want to leave, don't. You should be here when Marcus comes back online. He won't be the same but-"

"It's too late," Loki mumbles, "They know I'm here and they will find me."

::O:O:O::

Jim doesn't expect Tom to come back, not after what he's been told. Their last conversation made it seem like they would never cross paths again.

He feels lost as he stands in Tom's room. The white closet door is painted with archaic red symbols. Several of them sweep along the frame while thicker bolder ones run diagonally in an X shape. Jim can't help but gulp because just staring at the door makes the hair on the back of his neck stand. Real paralyzing fear grips him and he can't shake it. He wants to open the door and see what lies beyond but he remembers Tom's words. He remembers the warning and the way Tom's eyes bore into his.

"There are other worlds than these."

He scrubs the mess pretending it's not blood he's wiping away. In the end he can't remove it completely. Some of the red leaks through cracks in the wood but the symbols are gone. He steels himself and yanks the door open expecting to see a vast emptiness but instead he sees an overstuffed closet full of clothes.

Afterward, he does his best to box up all of Tom's clothes and belongings. He leaves a few items he's sure mean something to Marcus. He wonders if it'll help the boy remember. Maybe he'll be able to overcome his programming and fix the remaining corrupted data. He hopes that some part of his memory locked itself away instead of being deleted. He sighs knowing its wishful thinking. No one can repair that much damage.

::O:O:O::

"Sir?"

"Hey, kid."

The boy tilts his head curiously, "My designation is Marcus not 'Kid'."

"I know, I know," mutters Jim, "So, what can I do for you?"

"Sir," Marcus straightens, "What is my directive for today?"

::O:O:O::

It's been a month since Tom left.

Jim tries to avoid thinking about it. He tries to move on with his life as if a decade old friendship didn't unravel so much as combust in his face. No matter how much he hates Tom for leaving he understands, too. Tom has to face his past and maybe, just maybe, he'll return afterwards. Until then the days crawl by.

He's becoming fed up with everything and takes to drinking more often than not when he's off work. Even now he's tempted to dig out his bottle of scotch but decides to leave it alone. He still has chores around the house that he would rather take care of first.

A shadow falls over him while he's trying to fix a flat tire on the truck. He doesn't look up thinking its Marcus waiting for a new set of orders.

"You're a hard man to track down, Mr. Weber."

Jim grips the tire iron until it almost bends in his hands.

"What are you doing here, Krane?"


End Note: Hey, look a Dark Tower quote.