Phoenix here: Howdy do fellers. Sorry for going off of the radar for so long, life got really busy for a good while over here. I took a break from trying to write anything and just focused on doing other stuff in my free time while all the insanity with college and work was going on. I'm back and I'm going to start writing again since I'm sure y'all are chomping at the bit for some more content from my end.

Before y'all get into this next chapter I just want to reiterate the whole feedback and review thing. Look, I get that there isn't too much here right now, however I really want to start hearing from you people. I can bust out chapter's all day, but if I'm not getting any kind of feedback from the people reading I honestly don't see much point in continuing to write into a void. I WANT and NEED to hear from y'all. Partly because I'm still very new to writing and want to get some second opinions, but also because I want to know there's actually some kind of interest in all of this so I see a reason to continue doing it.

All that said, I'm thankful for the people who have favorited this story and are following it. You people are awesome and I hope I can get some more content out on a consistent basis for y'all.

Chapter 6: Light in the Darkness

Marcus had been sound asleep off in some land of perfect dreams for what had felt like five days during the first night of good sleep he had gotten in a while, however things began to rapidly change.

Everything started to feel tingly all of a sudden. It wasn't that he was waking up or anything, not that. Things just started feeling...off. It was like he had completely lost whatever he was dreaming about and was now just in some limbo state of unfocused confusion.

Things slowly became noticeable though however this only happened at a snail-like pace. It felt like he was just falling endlessly through some uncomfortable void. He couldn't hear, feel, or see anything else. He was just aware of this one sensation.

Eventually he began hearing..something?

Some kind of muffled noise became noticeable, like someone playing music in a nearby room. At first Marcus thought he was hearing muffled music, however that changed as he realized this "music" was just a mess of random thumping.

The thumping continued, slowly becoming more clear. There were different thumps now: some quick, some slow, and a few loud ones. It was weird. Muffled thumping? What was it all supposed to be? After a few seconds Marcus began hearing some new noise. It was just as muffled, but this noise sounded vaguely like it could be people yelling, but it was all too muffled to be intelligible. So there was now a lot of muffled thumping and what could maybe be people yelling, what was any of it supposed to be? Was it some kind of battle?

Things then began to slowly get cleaned up. The thumping started becoming more distinct. Each thump started to sound more punchy and individually distinct. Different thumps could now be heard from different places and at different distances. The thing was that a lot of thumping started to sound similar to Marcus, it began sounding like gunfire. All of a sudden the "yelling" began getting more intelligible. It was almost sounding like someone was calling out a name, but what name were they saying?

"M-"

"ar-!"

"Ra!-"

"wski!"

'Wait...did that voice just say...?' Marcus questioned.

"RADS!"

Everything went white. Marcus clenched his eyes shut and grit his teeth as a blinding light overtook him. He hissed in discomfort and brought his hands over his face to block out the light.

"Yo what the...heck?" he asked through gritted teeth.

The light shut off.

"Oh thank God! I thought we lost you!" the voice said with with a very relieved tone. Marcus uncovered his face and slowly opened his eyes. He saw the tanned and sharp face of his squad's Corpsman, HM1 Roger Maxwell. Marcus slowly looked around and realized that he had been propped up against a brick wall with a few Marines surrounding him. He could hear small arms fire and cannonfire from all around him.

"What..dude, what happenned?" Marcus asked, suddenly feeling very tired. He tried to shift himself up, however Maxwell intercepted him by placing his right hand on Pakowski's left shoulder and gently pushing him back down.

"Easy Rads." the Corpsman calmly said. "You were standing by one of the Bradley's when one of those things shot it and took it out. The blast launched you pretty good and whacked you against the side of this building before you dropped down. You took a few bits of shrapnel that your armor couldn't stop and I think you've got some cracked ribs, but you're fine. Besides, you're still hopped up on adrenaline so you can't feel a thing anyway."

"Ah crap.." Marcus sighed. He then felt around his body and noticed he was missing his radiopack and M4. "Where's my stuff?" he asked the Corpsman.

"Your radio is fried, but we've got it in the last Bradley. You're Carbine is right here." Maxwell reached over to Marcus's left and out of his field of vision where he pulled the Radioman's M4 off of the wall it was resting against.

"Here" he said as he presented the weapon. Pakowski took the M4 and slung it on before doing a chamber check and shouldering the Carbine.

"What's...what's going on?" Marcus asked over all the gunfire. Maxwell ducked as a projectile hit the wall above them while the Abrams that was giving them cover slammed off another main gun shell. "We're gonna link up with Bravo Company and push West, but we gotta get the wounded out first. That means you get to get out of this shitshow early."

"Nah man I'm not leaving you guys. I can still fight." the Radioman protested. He tried getting up, but winced up and growled as some of his actual pain overrode the adrenaline that was shooting through his body. "Ah FUCK that hurts!" he seethed.

"Rads I just told you that you've got some cracked ribs, trying to get up is LITERALLY a thing you shouldn't do!" Maxwell chastised as reached into a pack he had around his waist and pulled out a morphine shot.

He pulled out an alcohol pad from the same pack and spoke as he opened the alcohol pad's packing. "I'm going to give you a shot of morphine and then we're gonna put you in the other Bradley. I need you to stay calm and for the love of God, DON'T try to get up on your own."

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say doc.." Marcus vented as Maxwell rolled up the left sleeve of his BDU top and got to cleaning a spot on his arm.

It was weird, everything felt so REAL. The pain, the loud staccato of weapons fire that still punched through his ear protection, the shockwaves from explosions and Abrams cannonfire, the smells of gunpowder, diesel exhaust, and sweat.

'Is this real?' Marcus asked himself. 'Am I actually here? Did I really JUST get knocked unconscious?' It was all just too confusing to take in. He didn't know what was real and what was just an illusion. The past three days could have very well just been some kind of weird unconscious dream instead of reality.

"Alright, if you don't like needles you should look away." Maxwell's voice brought the Radioman back to "reality". He didn't mind needles, but he DID mind the firefight that was going on around him. Marcus dropped his M4 and pulled his sidearm out as Maxwell chunked the used alcohol pad away and took the safety cap off of the morphine shot. "Here it comes." the Corpsman warned.

Pakowski took a deep breath and nodded to signal he was ready. He felt a sting in his left arm like a large mosquito bit him and felt the morphine start flowing through his system. The sting lasted for three seconds before the sensation went away. Maxwell quickly wiped any blood from the injection away with a small napkin and quickly got a bandage over the injection wound.

"That's it Rads, all done." he said as he stowed the used needle in a dump pouch and grabbed his own M4 that he had hastily slung around his back. Marcus merely nodded with a grunt.

Maxwell stood up and called over a Marine to help him with Pakowski, however Marcus wasn't focusing on what was going on. The Radioman idly looked at the M9 he was holding in his hands as the Corpsman and a Rifleman picked him up and started carrying him. Marcus looked the left side of the pistol over before moving his left hand free and rotating his the pistol around in his right hand to look at the right side of the sidearm.

It all still looked and felt so REAL. Pakowski could feel the weight the weapon had and felt the texture of the pistol grip with the the exposed finger tip of his right middle finger. The Marine then brought his left hand up to his face and observed how the light reflected off of his glove's black, leather palm. He then looked up and watched as Maxwell carried him in a backpaddle. Marcus tuned the world out and just watched as the Corpsman alternated between looking at him and looking around, occasionally shouting something over all the commotion as the tan form of the Bradley grew larger.

He then turned his attention to the Bradley and observed the blast's of smoke from the barrel and thump he could feel in his chest from the shockwave as the crew fired off chain gun rounds at targets. He focused in even more and then began to only hear the clanging the spent cannon shells made as they were ejected out of the front of the turret and bounced off of the top of the hull. It was weird and reminded of this scene in the Polar Express where the only thing the protagonist could hear was the ringing of a bell.

His attention was then grabbed as a shadow passed over him. He looked up past the turret of the Bradley and saw an Air Force F-15E plummeting out of the sky in a rolling spin as it was engulfed in a fireball. Marcus watched as the fighter twisted and spun due to losing it's right wing and left vertical stabilizer with the pilot's yet to eject. He watched in horror as the aircraft began to twirl even faster as it plummeted earthward. There was a small explosion as the fighter's left wing gave way from the force of the violent movement and was wrenched away. More bits and pieces began ripping off of the jet as it continued dropping. Suddenly the cockpit itself was torn away with the pilot's still inside. Two shapes were quickly flung out of the tumbling cockpit as the pilot's ejected and were soon under their parachutes four seconds later. Marcus looked back at the falling fuselage of the jet and saw that all the control surfaces were now ripped off. It had all happened so fast, the event only taking place within the span of eight seconds.

"Rads!"

Marcus snapped out of his trance and looked down at Maxwell who was now at the entrance to the Bradley's troop compartment.

"Are you okay man? You look a little weird." the Corpsman said in a concerned tone.

"I'm..I'm good, jus-just a little tired." Marcus shakily replied as he came back to reality and began to suddenly feel weak. He sluggishly holstered his M9 so he wouldn't do something stupid in the weakened state he was drifting into.

"Max, he's losing a bit of blood.." the Marine behind him worriedly said.

"Damn it, I know!" Maxwell seethed with a flick of his head. "Look man. I know you're not a Corpsman but, I need you to help me out with him and Rodriguez." he said to the Marine.

"Ay woah, woah! Don't tell me I'm dying doc, as' not cool man!" Marcus partially slurred as his blood ran cold with fear.

"I'm not going to let you die bro! I just need you to stay strong so I can help you out!" the Corpsman replied as him and the Rifleman awkwardly ducked into the cramped Bradley and set Marcus down next to an injured Grenadier who didn't look too good. Marcus managed to nod and give a weak grunt of acknowledgement as he hung on for the ride. He just stared at the metal roof above him as a few more wounded who could walk piled in. He wanted to crack some kind of joke to lighten the mood as the Bradley crew raised the door, but he was feeling too weak to really do much of anything.

Maxwell and the Rifleman, Markov, began to swarm around their patients and do what they could to patch the guys up. Pakowski just couldn't believe this was real, it HAD to be a dream. He just laid there for a few minutes as they got underway going somewhere that would probably end up with them in a field hospital. The Radioman slowly raised his right arm up after a few minutes of laying limp and had his eyes go wide as he realized that his skin was a lot more pale than it was supposed to be.

"Doc! DOC! This doesn't look right man!" he shouted over the commotion inside the Bradley. Maxwell looked over and cursed something when he saw what Pakowski was on about. He quickly finished putting a tourniquet on a banged up Marine and began digging through his medical pack.

"Markov, I need you to help me with Rads, like now!" he said with a commanding tone to his voice. The Marine in question quickly scooted over past Maxwell and immediately began stripping Pakowski's gear off, starting with his helmet. "Alright just tell me what you need!" he hurriedly replied as he worked.

"Okay, patch up whatever the hell kind of holes he has going on. I need to get an IV into him right freaking now!" the Corpsman said as he pulled out a blood bag with Pakowski's blood type and the connecting tube and catheter. Markov nodded and continued quickly working as he reached down to pull the injured Radioman's plate carrier off.

"Rads I need you to lean up a little if you can so I can get this off, okay?!"

"Mkay!" Marcus slurred in response. He willed his upper body to raise up and cried out as pain suddenly shot through him. Markov yanked the plate carrier off and threw it clear before quickly helping Pakowski ease back down.

"Scissors!" the Marine called.

"Here!" an injured Support Gunner responded, holding out Maxwell's medical scissors. Markov quickly took them and got to work cutting Pakoski's BDU top so he could begin patching holes. Marcus just stared upwards as things happened, praying that he wouldn't die if all of this WAS real.

"Oh my God.." the Rifleman gasped as he finished cutting the BDU top and pulled it away to expose Marcus' bare chest. Pakowski looked down and did a double-take. "I don't.. I don' think as' supposed to be THAT red, man..." he for whatever reason, lightheartedly joked.

"No shit!" Maxwell said off to his left. "Markov! Quit gawking a patch the freaking guy up damn it!"

The Rifleman quickly got to patching his seriously injured brother-in-arms up as best as he could, repeatedly cursing at just how bad Pakowski looked. Soon the IV was connected, however the Radioman seemed to still JUST cling to consciousness. To the surprise of many, the crazy kid began trying to crack jokes in an attempt to lighten the heavy mood within the IFV.

"Ah man, ya know, I thi-I think this ain't too bad. Gettin' all blown up..and stuff.." the Radioman slurred on his fifth joke. Maxwell quickly put his left had on the kids' left shoulder. "Rads, I need you to save your strength, okay? Just focus on resting."

"Hm alrigh' doc.." Pakowski slurred. It was mostly quiet for a minute or two as the Bradley continued rushing on, however it seemed like that wouldn't last.

"Shift fire to our one! Hit that big bastard"

The turret was brought around with a hydraulic whirr and brought onto whatever the target was

"I got it! I got it!" the Gunner hollered as he let rip with the 25mm cannon.

CSH-THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!THUMP! THUMP!

"Damn it he's still coming!"

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

"Drop you bastard! Come on, DROP!"

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

"Hit him with the fucking TOW-OH SHIT!"

All of a sudden the world began tumbling.

"ROLLOVER! ROLLOVER! ROLLOVER!" someone screamed in a cracking voice that was laced with equal parts surprise and terror.

Marcus felt himself lift off of the ground before he was flung against someone, and then slammed against something hard. He cried out in agony as each new impact worsened his injuries. Everything just kept rolling as people hollered or cried out around him. Each impact felt like someone taking a sledgehammer with a point on it's head to his ribs, and he thought he was going to black out from the pain.

With one final smash and crunch of metal, the horrific roller coaster stopped. With the thrashed Bradley upside down and leaning on its right side due to partiality coming to rest on its turret. It was now just dead silent. Marcus slowly raised his hands up and saw that they were covered in blood. "Oh God, not now, please God no." he pleaded. "I'm not ready just yet man." he sighed. "Guys!" he shouted to the dark void surrounding him. "Come on guys...SOUND OFF!" he weakly hollered.

There was no response.

"Come on..st-stop screwing with me! SOUND OFF!" Marcus stumbled out into the dimly lit interior.

More silence. Marcus didn't want to believe the thought that had crept into his head. That being; he was the only one alive in the Bradley. The Marine tried to take a deep breath, however he instead buckled in on himself and coughed. He felt something wet slowly run down his lips and reached up to wipe them with the back of his left hand. When he raised his hand enough to catch some light, he saw it covered in blood.

"S-so as' how is' gonna be, huh?" he slurred, limply dropping his raised hand. He knew what it it meant when someone coughed up blood. He was dying, something he never thought would happen so soon in life. Marcus groaned weakly and closed his eyes. He didn't want to die, but it was blatantly clear that nobody was going to be able to save him now. His number was up; it was just that simple.

Suddenly loud thumps could be heard outside, coming toward the wrecked IFV by the sound of it. Marcus didn't really pay attention though, he was finished. The stomping continued until it was right outside the Bradley, then it stopped. Something smacked against the hull before something else shot through the sides of the door and took hold. Marcus just barely recognized the metal talon-like appendages before the door was wrenched away with a loud shriek. Something told him he wasn't about to experience some kind of divine intervention. The mortally-wounded Marine sluggishly reached down and felt his right hand curl around the rounded form of an M67. He wrapped his hand around the frag as tightly as he could and prepared to go out with one last fight.

The hand came back, it's tan coloration and metal form now visible to the lone Marine. It found it's was to Marcus and wrapped around his lower body before beginning to yank him forward. Marcus gave a bloodcurdling scream of pain as his battered body was forcefully yanked from the back of the Bradley and into the light outside. He just about blacked out, however he remained conscious enough to witness himself being hauled up in front of some metal monster with two red eyes the bored into him.

"Disgusting!" he heard a deep voice sneer.

"Fuck! YOU!" he viscously snarled back at the blurry mass of tan in front of him. He had enough space within the thing's grip to yank the frag off of his belt and slowly brought it up to his stomach, still hidden from the thing. The thing brought him right up to it's face and studied him. Marcus could now see the thing's sharp and hostile face.

"Weak, and pathetic like the rest of your kind!" the thing growled at him. "I will enjoy watching you pop, INSECT!" it snarled. Marcus swiftly brought his left hand to his right and yanked the pin from the grenade. He then shot his right hand up with the spoon of the grenade flying away due to the force of the motion, and slammed the frag into the mess of cables that he could see in the things neck.

"FIRST BATALLION, FIFTH MARINES! APACHE COMPANY! HOORAH!" Marcus screamed defiantly as he mustered the last of his strength for this one last act of resistance in the face of death. The things face looked shocked for a split second before the grenade went off, and everything went black.

Marcus' eyes shot open and he found himself looking into darkness. He was laying down on something soft, however he immediately shot up as he began hyperventilating. He started shivering, however his skin felt wet like like he had been sweating. His wide eyes darted around the room in terror and found a door and a window off to his far right, however he didn't realize that he was actually in the hotel room. The Marine's hands frantically shot around him for a weapon until he felt the smooth form of his M4's barrel come in contact with his left hand's palm. He immediately snatched the weapon up and took hold of it. He pointed the Carbine towards the door in a death-grip, certain something was going to barge through and try to kill him.

"Come on you bastard, come on in so I can drop you!" he breathlessly said as he looked over the Carbine's ACOG scope. The door remained closed, almost as if this was some kind of taunt. Marcus slapped the M4's safety off and wrapped his right index finger around the trigger. He slapped the weapons red laser on with his left thumb and unconsciously began clutching air into his lungs even louder.

Unbeknownst to him a form started shifting to his right under the covers of the bed he found himself in.

"...Fleshbag?" a small voice worriedly asked to his right.

Marcus slowly looked over a tad and noticed a red glow coming from his right. He looked towards the source of the glow and found four red "eyes" staring at him. Marcus choked a surprised noise and began bringing his weapon to bear on the presumed threat, however something grabbed the Carbine's barrel and resisted the movement. The Marine grunted and pressed against the resistance, but something quickly grabbed onto the weapon and began prying it away from him with incredible strength.

Marcus let the weapon go and was going to go hand-to-hand with the threat, however the thing quickly chucked the weapon onto the adjacent bed and got a hold on him before he could react.

"IT'S ALRIGHT! CALM DOWN!" the voice desperately pleaded with the struggling Marine. Marcus snarled like some kind of wild animal and tried to break free from the thing's grip. Then something unexpected happened. Marcus felt arms wrap around him and pull him forward...towards those four red eyes. He felt himself get pulled into some kind of bear-hug with the thing. The eyes moved closer until he felt something metallic resting on his shoulder.

"Marcus, nothing's going to hurt you! Please calm down!" the voice said, but this time it came from his right shoulder. The worried voice sounded familiar...who was that?

'Wait.'

The Marine slowly began to untense within the embrace. "B-Barricade?" he stuttered out, still in fight or flight.

"It's me." the voice said. Marcus felt one of the arms let go of him. The lamp on the table between the two beds was quickly turned on and bathed the room in a warm light. To say that Barricade looked worried would be a great understatement. She was trembling, almost as badly as Marcus. The look on her face was as worried as it was terrified, and her optics were somehow wider that Marcus' pupils.

Something within Marcus flipped like a switch as he looked down at Barricade's fearful gaze. He slowly brought his hands up.

"I-I.." he stammered in shock.

"I...a-almost k-killed you..." he choked out, suddenly feeling very queasy.

"It's okay. I wouldn't have gotten hurt if you shot me like this with your gun." Barricade replied, trying to sound calm while trying her best to forget about what just happened.

"What do you mean it's okay?!" Marcus snapped, angry at himself for his actions. "I could have just KILLED you Barricade! I could have just-..w-what?" he was tripped up when the entirety of Barricade's statement was understood.

"I wouldn't get hurt like this." Barricade repeated. "This isn't me, well it is, but it's like a hologram-thingy version of me." she said, looking down at herself.

Marcus just stared dumbstruck. "I don't...but like you're here, and I can touch you, and I can feel how warm you are." He reached towards Barricade with his right hand and placed it on her chest over the warmest part in the center.

"I don't really get it either. It's something called a "Holoform", well that's what this little thingy in my eye says it is." The Interceptor answered with a finger pointing at her smaller right optic. "It's just another form I guess. It's like how I can turn into a police car, but instead I can turn into a smaller version of myself. I can still feel things, and everything, but I can just turn this form of me off if I want to." she explained. She then turned her holoform off for a split second before reactivating it to help explain what she meant.

Marcus just stared in awe. "That's like...totally amazing." he mumbled. The awe rushed away from him as a look of guilt reappeared in his face. Even thought it wouldn't have actually killed her, Marcus still thought he was about to kill Barricade, someone he was now considering to be family. He hugged her tightly and sighed.

"Oh God kid, I'm so sorry." he softly said with guilt pouring forth from his being.

Barricade wrapped Marcus up in her own embrace and pulled herself closer to him. "It's alright big brother." she softly said "Everything's okay now. You don't need to be scared anymore."

The Marine just nodded and let his sister's comforting warmth envelope him for the time being. A comfortable silence fell upon the two as they helped each other calm down.

A few minutes later Barricade leaned back to look at Marcus. "When I woke up you looked really scared, and like you didn't really know what you were doing. Everything you did seemed to be something that just happened automatically. What happened?"

Marcus bit his lip and looked away with a hint of pain in his expression. "You mind if we go outside? It's a little warm in here." he asked. Barricade picked Warlock up and looked up at Marcus expectantly. When he didn't react, she held her left arm out to him. "Carry me Fleshbag?" she asked while looking as cute as possible.

The Marine chuckled softly and rolled himself out of bed before going over to the other side of the bed. He knelt down with his back to Barricade "Hop on, I'll give you a piggy back ride." he said while looking over his shoulder. At first she didn't know what he meant, however after a quick internet search, the Interceptor eagerly attached herself to her brother's back and set her head on his right shoulder.

Marcus hooked his arms around his passenger's legs and grunted as he struggled a little to get up. "Jeez kid, you're a little heavy." he said with a small chuckle once he had finished standing up. Barricade giggled on his right shoulder and began to purr contently as it seemed that her brother was now feeling better. The two made their way to the door where Marcus opened the door a little awkwardly before carefully stepping through the threshold and into the cool night. He felt Barricade close the door behind them before she wrapped her right arm back around him in the area between his shoulder and his neck. She had Warlock held against Marcus' chest. Truly, Marcus thought Barricade with Warlock was the most adorable thing he had ever seen, and he was happy the kid liked her new companion so much.

Marcus ambled his way over to the staircase and warned his passenger that he was going to sit down before letting to of her legs and using his arms to carefully lower himself down onto the top step. The concrete was still a little wet, but Marcus didn't mind that. He actually liked the cool air that surrounded him. Normally he'd put a shirt on if he decided to go outside, but now he didn't care since it wasn't like anyone besides Barricade would see him. The kid herself got off of her brother's back and scooted over to sit next to him while hugging Warlock and leaning against him.

"So what happened..?"

Marcus sighed while giving a small shrug. "I..don't really know." he said while looking up into the night sky. "One moment I'm sleeping peacefully, the next I'm slowly coming to after getting blown up...well more of going back to that."

"What do you mean..?" Barricade asked while scrunching her optic ridge's and looking up at Marcus with a confused look.

"We were moving through the city trying to find civilians- me and the group I was with." Marcus explained. "We were pushing towards the big part of the city when I heard helicopters behind us. I looked behind the group and saw two Apache attack helo's coming towards us real fast.-" Barricade quickly looked up this "Apache" and began reading about it as her brother went on. "I called them up on the radio and got told that we were about to get attacked, and that the pilot's needed to mark our location. I got a smoke grenade and threw it out into the street to mark where we were before letting the pilot's know that I just marked our position."

"Do you know what attacked you?"

Marcus shook his head "Nah, but it definitely wasn't human. I couldn't really see much over all the smoke and tracer fire." he lied. He got a good look at one of the thing's, but he didn't want to tell Barricade that it was probably the same thing she was. "So we started laying into them to clear the place out and continue on. I took cover near one of our Bradley's while continuing to give the Apache's status updates on us and target's to hit. After a while they broke off to get set up for attack runs with their rocket's and Hellfire's. I unconsciously stood up from where I was and watched them as we continued talking...and then I head my squad lead screaming my name."

"And then you got..." Barricade began to say, however she didn't want to finish the sentence.

"And then I got blown up." Marcus finished while looking down at his feet. "In real life; I was thrown up into some abandoned warehouse, but in the dream I came to on the ground with a Corpsman leaning over me. Everything felt weird, it was like that actually happened, but at the same time it all just felt so off. He said that I was thrown into a wall, probably had some cracked ribs, and took some shrapnel. At first I didn't think it was all that bad...well until they got me hauled off into the last Bradley..."

The Marine just went quiet for a little while as he continued looking down. He just looked like he was trying to remember everything that happened, but for some reason Barricade could feel this sense of sadness and fear coming from somewhere. She focused in on the sensation and slowly realized that it was actually coming from Marcus..or so it seemed. She was about say something about the weird sensation, however Marcus started talking through his dream again.

"So they got me in the Bradley and I quickly found out that I was a lot more banged up than I had been told." he said a little lowly.

"How bad was it?" Barricade worriedly asked.

"Well...it didn't look like I was gonna make it." Marcus sighed. Barricade just gave him this confused look, obviously not understanding what he meant. "I was dying." he quickly spat.

"You...you.." the Interceptor stuttered. Marcus simply nodded and pulled his sister close to him.

"We went on for a little while, and I tried cracking a few jokes as the dream went on. Sometime later on we were attacked again. I got pulled out of the wreckage by some monster and gave it one last fight before everything went black...and then I woke up in a pitch-black room." he finished up. He shook his head and and then pulled Barricade into his lap. "I'm sorry you had to see me freaking out earlier, and I sorry for trying to hurt you, even if it wouldn't have actually done anything." he whispered to his sister while closing his eyes and touching his forehead to hers.

At first nothing happened, but then Marcus began hearing this weird, high-pitched noise. It was just barely audible, and at first the noise confused him, that was until he felt Barricade shudder in his arms. He opened his eyes and pulled his head back a little to get a look at her. It was then that the noise became obvious; tears were pouring from her eyes, her breath was obviously hitching, and the plates that made up he mouth were quivering badly, she was crying.

Marcus immediately went on full damage control while internally cursing himself for bringing up what he did earlier. "Hey, woah woah woah! It's alright, don't cry!" he pleaded, which only seemed to make Barricade even more. "Barricade I'm sorry for how I acted earlier! I was being stupid and didn't realize it was all just a dream!" he explained as guilt smothered him.

Barricade shook her head and slammed her face into Marcus' chest. "IT'S NOT FAIR!" she wailed.

"W-what?" Marcus asked completely dumbfounded as he looked down, not knowing if he should hug her or give her space.

"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST BE HAPPY?!" Barricade demanded.

"I don't-I-...wha-"

Barricade tore herself from Marcus' chest and looked up at him. Not with a look of anger, but that of pain. "Y-you got blown up! You had to see a bunch of dead humans! You had a fellow human almost kill you! You don't even know if you're going to make it out of this! I had to go be really mean to you for no reason, and you wanted to kill yourself yesterday! Why can't anything go right for you?! Why can't you be allowed to just be happy!?"

"But I AM-"

"No you're NOT, not really! I know you hide things so I don't get upset, but I KNOW you're not happy, I can just feel it!" she seethed. Barricade then snarled and punched the railing behind her, busting out a few bars. She brought her legs up to her chest and started rocking back and forth while clinging to Warlock. "It's not fair, NONE OF IT is fair!" she half-whispered half-cried.

Marcus just sat there stunned for a few seconds. She had just easily busted a few bars out of the staircase, and her eyes had changed to an even darker shade of crimson. Honestly, the nineteen year old was a little scared. He didn't want to upset Barricade even more, but he couldn't just sit there and let her be this upset. He carefully put a hand on her shoulder. "Barricade, look at me." he softly said.

The Interceptor slowly looked over to Marcus. "Why am I here?" Marcus asked.

"...W-what do you mean?" Barricade confusedly asked.

"Why am I STILL here?" the Marine asked. Barricade still didn't understand what he was asking, she just looked at him with a confused look on her face. Marcus brought his left hand up and wiped the tears from her face. "I'm still here because of YOU." he said, pointing to his sister. "Through ALL the bad things, through ALL the moments where I just want to give up, through ALL of the darkness, I have YOU." he said, meaning every single word that came out of his mouth. "You, Barricade, are the light in my darkness. I don't EVER want you to forget that kiddo. I'm happy because I have you to call my little sister."

Marcus hefted Barricade back into his lap and cradled her against his chest. "I don't like seeing you upset kiddo, it's not the vibe we're trying to go for over here." he softly said. He then stared to slowly rock and forth while rubbing his sister's back in a calming way. "I'm here for ya little sis. Just calm down, cause everything is gonna be peachy. Dry those tears and focus on the good things, like Warlock, and tickle attacks, and playing hide and seek, and moments like this where we're just cuddled up to each other and you start purring because of how good everything feels."

Surprisingly enough, it seemed like Marcus' attempt at comforting the kid worked. She stopped crying and slowly untensed within his embrace. After a little while she started to quietly purr while closing her eyes and leaning even more into Marcus as he gently rocked her back and forth.

"There ya go kiddo, that's it." The Marine whispered as he felt Barricade begin to drift back into peaceful sleep. He continued rocking and stroking her back for another minute or two before he decided it was safe to start moving again. Marcus carefully and methodically began pulling himself up while making sure Barricade and Warlock remained secured in his grasp. He made as little noise as possible as he got up and began moving for the door, where he then stealthily turned the handle and moved on in. He silently got the door closed up and locked before making his way back to the bed and setting Barricade back under the covers.

After he got her and Warlock tucked in, he just gave a content sigh and tilted his head back and smiled.

"Thank you for putting this adorable kid into my life." he whispered before grabbing his M4 and making his way back over to his side of the bed where he made sure to put the weapon on safe before sliding back under those oh-so-soft covers. Marcus scooted over to Barricade and wrapped an arm around her as he let himself drift back off into sleep, certain that this time there would be no nightmare awaiting him.