Hah, finished another chappie! Hehe…Ugh…Nobody cares, I guess… 0.o Anyway, thanks to Emzies and Mog! Here goes…

A MEMORY

About twelve years ago...

Marcus looked at the burned down hide-out with tears in his eyes. Baku was standing next to him, with a comforting hand on the little boy's head. Marcus looked up at him. 'Why did they do that?' He whispered to his boss with big, innocent eyes. Baku swallowed and looked away. 'I dunno, kid.' He answered. How do you explain war to a ten year-old child? Marcus examined the neighbourhood. He saw Cinna, sitting on the ground and crying something about a lost doll while Ruby tried to comfort him, and the Nero Brothers, one wrapping a bandage around Zidane's scorched tail, and the other holding the crying boy's hand. Blank, however, was nowhere to be seen. Baku noticed the frightened look on Marcus' face. He pulled the boy closer and rubbed his shoulder. 'I wanna see him.' Marcus said, trying to crawl out of Baku's arms. 'Marcus…' Baku tried. Marcus shook his head fiercely. 'I'm going.' He stated firmly, ignoring Baku's look of frustration. 'I don't want you to see him like this.' The man replied, taking a firm grip of Marcus' arm. The boy yanked his arm away. 'Where is he! I wanna see him!' He screamed, clenching his fists. Baku stared at him in defeat. 'C'mon.' He said softly, taking Marcus' hand.

The sight of Blank, lying on a table in the hospital with terrible wounds all over his six year old body, is something that Marcus will never forget. Tears poured down his cheeks as he carefully took hold of Blank's hand. Blank turned his head to him, not being able to smile or say something because of the burns on his face. Marcus squeezed his friend's hand.

PRESENT TIME

Normal POV

Marcus woke that morning in an unfamiliar bed, with a dull headache pounding behind his eyes. He groaned and rested his head in his hands. Where the hell was he and what the hell had happened? Just as Marcus began to wonder how much he'd drunk the night before, the memories of the passed few days came flooding back to him: the ruined show, the crash, Evil Forest, and the letter from Zidane carrying the dreadful news that his bro had-... The young man shook his head violently, willing the pain to eb away. He flinched as a heavy hand clamped down onto his bare shoulder. 'Easy, boy.' He recognized his Boss' gruff voice, and relaxed immediately.

He slowly lifted his gaze to see Baku wobble to the other side of the room and sink down into a lazy armchair. The burly man sighed and stared at the worn carpet on the floor, folding his arms as in deep thought. Marcus scrachted the back of his head, and noticed for the first time that he was... well... quite naked. He grabbed his head squinted his eyes as he tried to remember if he'd undressed himself or if ... oh God whatever had happened last night!

It's gonna take a while to rewrite all this shit 0o …