Jessica was propped up on the loveseat reading through the paperwork for the Henderson case file when Marcus entered the apartment. There he is. She glanced up and her eyes went wide. Is that blood? Is it his? "What happened? Are you okay?" She jumped to her feet to scrutinize him closely.

Marcus looked down at his suit and found that Warner's blood had splattered all over the front of his suit, much to his dismay. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's not mine."

It took a moment for Jessica to digest this. "Then... whose is it?"

Suddenly wanting to see her reaction, Marcus told her the truth. "I had to terminate a couple of employees."

She flinched and averted her eyes. "I'm sure they had it coming." Her voice trembled a little.

He immediately regretted his blunt statement. "Yeah they did. It was either them or a family of five." Marcus recognized that wasn't precisely what had happened, but he didn't want to completely shatter the vulnerable friendship they were building. He'd undoubtedly made a dent in it already by admitting he'd just murdered people.

Jessica looked up in surprise to meet his gaze. "Family? With children?" Had he just rescued a family? Didn't that make him some kind of hero?

"Yes. Twin girls and a baby. They were cute, too." Marcus shed his jacket and held it at arm's length to examine the stains meticulously. "You think this is ruined?"

"Probably. So I guess that's all right then, I mean, if they were trying to kill a family." She walked over to him and placed her hand on his arm gently. "Are you okay? Seriously?"

Is she... worried about me? He searched her face for traces of insincerity but found none. He liked the feeling; he could get used to it even though the fact that he didn't deserve her concern nagged at his conscience. Conscience? Yeah right. Like I have one. "I'm okay. I'm going to take a shower and change." Throwing her a quick smile, he left the room.

Jessica plopped back down in her seat and frowned. It couldn't have been easy for him, killing those people, even though he had been trying to rescue a family. His behavior had shown her more than once he wasn't as cold and calculating as he'd like her to believe. He might act like nothing was wrong, but she was sure that somewhere underneath his cool exterior he was upset, and she was determined to make him feel better.

It took Jessica nearly three hours to figure out what to do to divert Marcus' attention from what happened that afternoon. She'd prepared dinner -- it had been almost tasty -- and now they were lying side to side on the sofa just as they had been yesterday. Marcus had dimmed the lights so the living room was almost dark, safe for one small light across the room.

She snuggled closer to him. "Marcus?"

"Hmm?" The deep and rumbling sound sent a shiver through her. The good kind.

"Can I ask you a question?" Tentatively, she lifted her head to look him in the eye.

There we go. Marcus braced himself for the inevitable questions about his job and whether it entailed killing people more often. "Shoot."

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay, but I'm curious. I just wanted to know about you." Her fingers played with his shirt, distracting him for a moment.

"About me?" That was the last thing he'd expected. He frowned.

"Yeah. Childhood, memories, choices you've made... you know. You." She nestled her head back against his shoulder.

"Um... okay. Let's see." Marcus felt indulgent and actually looked forward to sharing his life-story with her. The censored version of course. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Birth. Duh," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I was born into the human world about 2500 years ago. 467 BC to be exact. So I guess you could say I'm a lot older than you." His conversational tone was in shrill contradiction to his less than normal life-story. Not wanting to bore her with a detailed description of every single year he'd been alive, he decided to only discuss the main events. "My parents were kind of upper class so I had a carefree childhood. There wasn't much emphasis on schooling so --"

"Wait," she interrupted. "What does that mean, 'born into the human world'?"

"It's complicated. I lived before that but not in human form. My human parents named me Marcus and that kind of stuck although I'm not human anymore. Now will you be quiet so I can continue?" He smiled at her to soften the edge of his words.

"Sorry. One more thing: where were you born?"

"Rome. My parents were upper class Romans. As I said, we didn't really have to go to school a lot so my friends and I would enact battles on the fields just outside the town. I would always beat them." Marcus smiled fondly at the memory; then his expression darkened. "I was sixteen when my parents found out what I was and they chased me out of the city. I could have taken them on and kill them but I didn't want to. They were my parents, you know?"

Jessica nodded. She knew there was something behind his whole evil charade and it seemed like she finally got to discover what that was. "How did they find out?"

"Prophet. Foresaw a big evil coming and went ballistic when he saw me. Anyway, I roamed across Europe for decades, fought against the Romans, hired myself out as a mercenary to anyone who could pay and needed somebody killed."

Reminding herself that he was talking about the Roman Empire and that those were different times moral-wise, she silently encouraged him to go on.

"After about a century things changed. I met my... I met some more of my kind and we travelled together for a while. That's about it." Marcus sighed. It had been a long time since he last dwelled on his past, or at least the part of it that was spent growing up.

"You still see them? Those men you met?" Jessica wondered.

"Not that often. Sometimes. When they're in town." Marcus closed up a little, not wanting to overshare.

"And what about your parents? What became of them?" She felt him flinch a little and regretted asking the question.

When he answered, Marcus' tone was flat. "They were slaughtered by their friends and neighbors because they had given birth to me."

Jessica closed her eyes, feeling sorrow for the sixteen-year-old boy he once had been. He'd been forced to live with not only the notion that people perceived him as evil, but also with the guilt caused by knowing his parents had been killed because of him. She raised her hand to caress his cheek. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was a long time ago." Despite himself, he leaned into her touch. He hadn't shared the fate of his parents with anyone before, not even his kindred spirits. Her acceptance felt good. She didn't focus on the non-human aspects of his story as he'd expected; she genuinely wanted to know about him. It was a new feeling. He glanced down at her and their eyes locked.

A rush of desire shot through Jessica's body. "Marcus?"

"Hm?" Ah hell. I've waited long enough.

He hauled her up on top of him in one fluent motion. Resting one hand on the small of her back to keep her in place, he lifted the other up to pull her mouth to his. It started out as a gentle kiss, but soon turned passionate. Jessica wanted nothing more than to touch his naked skin and fumbled to unbutton his shirt. She finally succeeded in unbuttoning it halfway down and then gave up, ripping the rest of the buttons off in a violent outburst. Marcus chuckled against her lips.

Feeling her small hands on him, Marcus deepened the kiss even further, pressing her pelvis into his using his hand on her back. She moaned into his mouth and raked her nails over his chest, shattering the last shred of self-control he had left. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to the bedroom. He placed her on the bed gently and stood, towering over her.

"You get one chance to tell me to stop. This is it." His voice was urgent and his eyes searched her face for any indication of displeasure.

Hesitation flashed over her features. "I'm not sure," she admitted huskily.

"That's not a no," Marcus concluded and pounced on her.

His mouth crashed down onto hers and his hands seemed to be everywhere, sliding under her top and igniting a fire inside her. Damn right that's not a no. God, she wanted this; but at the same time she was scared. It was a big step for her, and coincidentally one she'd never taken before. He was moving too fast. She didn't want him to stop but his pace could only lead to pain and discomfort. She pushed at his shoulders fruitlessly, then turned her face away from his demanding mouth. It immediately latched on to her neck, nibbling and licking and generally doing delightful things... Focus.

"Marcus," she pleaded. "Marcus, wait."

Marcus came to his senses somewhat when he heard her soft plea. What was he doing? More importantly, why was he doing as she asked? It was no secret to him that she probably hadn't had sex before and she wasn't the first virgin he'd had, not by a long shot. Some of them had been willing, but most hadn't. He'd never had any qualms about it... so why start now? Why had he given her a choice in the first place? True, she was more important to him than the rest -- he'd planned to keep her around for a long time after all -- but still, he was about to ruin it for himself anyway, so why listen to her? He sighed. This was no time for deep thoughts.

"What is it?" Marcus asked, eyes boring into hers. He momentarily ceased his ministrations but didn't move, his body still pinning hers to the bed.

She swallowed hard, resisting the urge to stop talking and give in. "I'm um... it's going too fast."

He didn't disagree with her there, but she couldn't be talking about his plans for her; she was referring to what they were doing right now. "Explain." He drawled out the word and started moving his hand under her top again, caressing her side languorously.

"Um... well... I didn't... I haven't done this before." She blushed fiercely, but gathered the courage to continue. "And I'd like... well, my first time... to last."

Marcus laughed softly. "You're worried that I'm going too fast?" She nodded tentatively. "You're way ahead of me, little girl. This is going to take a good long while." A devilish smirk appeared on his handsome face. "I promise. Now be a good girl and lose the shirt."

Jessica's cheeks were burning by the time he finished talking. She'd gone and made a fool of herself. Again. He didn't seem turned off by her assumption however, if anything he looked amused at her lack of experience. Well, she could live with that. Now he knew about her current untouched status, he wouldn't have high expectations of her performance, so to speak. When his last words sank in she gulped. Lose the shirt? As in 'take it off while he's watching'? She took a deep breath. "You do it."

She'd asked for it and he was more than happy to oblige. Marcus hooked a finger in the neckline of her top and tugged hard, the material tearing instantly. From the look on her face he could tell that while unexpected, his actions aroused her nonetheless. He turned his attention to the newly revealed naked skin. She was wearing a flimsy lacy bra. His fingers itched to remove it as thoroughly as he'd done with her shirt but that would have to wait.

Marcus leaned down to kiss her again, taking his time to explore her upper body with his hands. Her skin was so soft. He brushed his thumbs over her lace-covered nipples, eliciting a low moan from her throat. He decided he'd go easy on her; this was likely to be her last night alive so he might as well make it worthwhile for her. Saint Marcus. He felt a brief discomfort when an image of her lying in her own blood in his bed flashed before his eyes. He pushed the thought away and concentrated on the matter at hand. He brought up his knee to separate her legs and broke the kiss, mouth moving to her neck and biting down gently. She gripped his forearms tight and made an appreciative sound, letting her head loll to the side to grant him better access. He kneaded one of her breasts with his hand, letting the other travel down to the waistband of her jeans and stroking the sensitive skin of her belly with his knuckles.

Jessica shivered, completely overwhelmed by the feelings his hands and mouth were causing. She momentarily tensed as his nimble fingers snapped open the top button of her jeans, but relaxed again when his hand left the area and ran up her side, caressing it light as a feather. The next time his hand went down to unbutton the second one, she didn't care. She reached for his head and pulled it down to meet his lips in a passionate kiss, fondling the portion of his chest that wasn't covered by his shirt. He moaned into her mouth and made short work of the remaining buttons.

Breaking the kiss, Marcus sat up to remove her jeans altogether. In one swift movement he lifted her off the bed and pulled the garment off. He took his time to caress her slender legs until Jessica became slightly impatient, judging from her fidgeting and the frustrated mewls coming from her mouth at regular intervals. Moving back up, he noticed the rapt expression on her face. His lips curled up in a smug smile right before his mouth claimed hers once more.

Now she was naked save for her underwear, Jessica wanted to feel his skin against hers. She yanked at his shirt to expose more naked chest and sighed in satisfaction when she succeeded. Tugging idly at his sleeves she indicated that his shirt should go. He shrugged out of it, moaning as her nails raked across his back. Time to speed things up a little. He hooked a finger under the front clasp of her bra and ripped it in two. She flattened her hands against his chest and kneaded the hard muscles she found.

Marcus pulled away and dipped his head down to latch on to her breasts. She arched her back, encouraging him on and barely noticing that he tore her panties and tossed them aside. His hand caressed her belly and slid over her hipbone to her thigh, where his thumb drew languid circles, moving closer to her center but never quite reaching it. With a moan of frustration she moved her hips in the direction of his teasing hand. Obligingly he brushed his fingers over her clit, making her gasp and buck wildly. Watching her face intently, he entered her with one long finger.

Jessica was quickly losing any inhibition she might have felt. She should have done this way earlier. She threaded one hand through Marcus' hair and pulled him up for a kiss. His finger was still thrusting shallowly inside her. God bless him for being freakishly tall. Fumbling at the waistband of his pants she managed to locate the button and snap it open. She unzipped the zipper and tried to think of a way to let him know that he should shed the garment. Deciding that the time for being coy had passed, she broke the kiss.

"Lose the pants," she winked at him.

Marcus hid his surprise at her bold request and did as he was told, standing next to the bed for a moment to step out of his pants. He looked at her questioningly. She was virtually leering at him and motioned him to stop when he moved toward the bed again.

"Boxers too." She smiled at him seductively. Raising one eyebrow at her he slowly got rid of his underwear, chuckling inwardly as her eyes widened. He granted her a moment of ogling -- which she happily accepted -- and then he was next to her on the bed again.

"You sure about this?" Marcus inquired in a low voice, tracing intricate patterns on her stomach. He hoped to hell she was, because he wasn't sure he could stop anymore. To his relief, she nodded and tried to pull him on top of her. He didn't budge, instead moving his hand back to her core and inserting his finger into her again, moving in and out slowly. When he added a second finger, she bucked her hips into his hand and closed her eyes tightly. The ball of his thumb rubbed against her clit with every stroke, sending waves of pleasure through her body. Teasing her nipples with his tongue and hand, he enjoyed her mewls of appreciation, indicating she was getting close to climaxing. She chanted his name over and over, pleading for her release until finally her orgasm washed over her.

Jessica opened her eyes reluctantly. Wow. Marcus was watching her intently and she couldn't help but smile lazily at him. He took that as his cue to cover her body with his and position himself at her entrance.

"Wait," she suddenly gasped. Marcus just looked at her questioningly. "I want to touch you too." Acting on her words, she moved her hands to his nether regions, making her intentions clear.

"I can't wait," Marcus said in a gruff voice. "Well, I can, but I don't want to. Now brace yourself. This might hurt." With that he sheathed himself in her body, tearing through her virginal barrier. She felt a brief stab of pain, followed by the exquisite sensation of being filled. Marcus stayed still for a moment, allowing her some time to get accustomed to his size and waiting for her to start moving against him.

He didn't have to wait long. Growing impatient and desperate for friction, Jessica bucked her pelvis up slightly, moaning as the movement caused him to enter her more deeply. He moved into her, thrusting slowly and steady at first and letting her set the pace. As the tension built up in her body again, she urged him to go faster, meeting his thrusts frantically until she came for the second time. Nearing his own release, Marcus pistoned into her harder and gripped her body tight, not caring about possible bruises. Grunting her name, he emptied himself inside her, then collapsed on top of her.

After a few seconds he rolled to the side, pulling her with him and positioning her to lie on top of him. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, stroking her hair. She laid her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat, eyes drifting shut. It took Marcus a few minutes to realize something was off. She was still alive and he had no urge to... dispose of her. In fact, she was lying on top of him -- cuddling -- and he took pleasure in the feel of her body against his. He was even contemplating how long he should allow her to rest before he'd try to engage her in a repeat performance. He didn't want to question his feelings further; he was glad he didn't have to get rid of her right away. He was intent on enjoying the new feeling for as long as it'd last. Odds were it would be gone before he had a chance to savor it. He smiled to himself and pulled her up for a languid kiss.

After a while Jessica disentangled herself from his grasp. "I should stop using you as a mattress. Am I too heavy?"

Marcus laughed out loud at her worried expression. "I didn't want to say anything, but for a tiny little girl you weigh a ton." Off her indignant look he added, "I think you might have broken a couple of my ribs."

She playfully swatted his side and giggled as he winced in mock pain. Planting a firm kiss on his nose, she rolled off his body and cuddled up next to him. "Not as tough as you look, are you?"

Marcus smiled indulgently. "Apparently not." The double meaning of his words was lost on her; she didn't know about his... inner struggle. She seemed happy to believe they were lovers. On some level, they were. However, she appeared to have completely forgotten about how she'd gotten into his life in the first place. Well, he wasn't about to remind her. Not yet anyway. "Are you hungry?"

"I could eat," she noticed. "You offering to prepare something?"

"Why not?" Marcus shrugged, then added mischievously, "I noticed I've been doing all the work around here anyway." He ducked to avoid the pillow she threw at his head. "You really have anger management issues." He swung his long legs over the edge of the bed and sauntered over to the bedroom door, allowing Jessica an excellent view of his naked bottom.

When he re-entered the bedroom carrying a tray of various snacks, Jessica was eyeing the remnants of her pretty top and underwear glumly. "Too much trouble to take them off in one piece, huh?"

Marcus grinned lopsidedly while depositing the tray on the bed. "I didn't hear any complaints at the time."

"True." She let herself fall back into the pillow and grabbed a handful of peanuts. "Anyway, you've got to stop doing that. Either that or buy me more."

"Buy you more? Woman, you have a closet full of those things!" Marcus teased her flippantly.

She arched a brow at him. "Not if you keep that up," she pointed out glibly.

"Fine." He hopped back on the bed and pulled her close, swiping a couple of peanuts from her hand and popping them into his mouth. "For every item of clothing I destroy you get a new one. But I get to pick them."

"I can live with that." Jessica yawned heartily and closed her eyes. "I feel like I could sleep for weeks."

"Then go to sleep," Marcus said softly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. He turned off the light on the nightstand and pulled her flush against him.

Long after she had fallen asleep, Marcus was still staring into the darkness.

Monday

Marcus made his way to his office whistling a cheerful tune. Today was going to be a good day. Before he'd fallen asleep last night he had figured out why he still wanted to keep Jessica around. It was so simple he couldn't believe he hadn't realized it sooner. His plan had been to break her and she wasn't broken yet.

That morning they had woken up early. Jessica had nearly jumped him and they'd had sex again. He smiled at the memory. She really is lively. Even though her muscles had to be sore from last night, she hadn't held back because of it. It had been satisfying, to say the least.

Patterson was waiting in his office as Marcus entered it. He had seemingly composed himself and didn't look as terrified as he had yesterday. Marcus' good mood increased even more. "Morning, Patterson."

The other man smiled guardedly. "Morning, Sir."

"Sit," Marcus ordered him while moving to sit behind his desk. Patterson promptly parked himself in the nearest chair.

He would have to make sure Patterson was comfortable around him before he could be of any use, so Marcus decided to turn on the charm. "How are your wife and kids? I hope I didn't scare them too much yesterday?" The second he saw Patterson flinch at the mere mention of yesterday's events, Marcus regretted his question. So much for being subtle. Subtlety wasn't really his thing anyway so he cut to the chase. Trying for his friendliest tone of voice, he delivered what he hoped was a comforting speech.

"I know you've had quite a shock recently and I'm not necessarily talking about yesterday. It's important that you realize you don't have to be scared of or intimidated by me. I need your services and I won't hurt you or your family as long as you're loyal to Wolfram & Hart. I want to encourage you to speak to me freely. When I ask for your opinion, I really need your opinion. I will not harm you for bringing bad news or saying something you think I don't want to hear." A knock on the door interrupted his motivational monologue.

"Come in," he said slightly irritated by the disturbance. The door opened, revealing his assistant Peter... Peter... Something. "Ah, Peter, good to see you. Meet my new personal assistant, Chris Patterson. From now on, you'll assist Patterson instead of me. Chris, meet Peter, your happy little helper."

Patterson looked bewildered while Peter came across as downright irate. Good. He'd never liked the little weasel anyway. He raised his eyebrows at his former assistant. "Was there something you wanted? Something you'd like to say perhaps?" He couldn't resist yanking the young man's chain a little and attributed that urge to his evil nature. I am evil, after all.

Peter shook his head, suppressing his anger and carefully keeping his expression neutral. "No Sir. Nice to meet you, Mr. Patterson. If you need anything, you know where to find me." He left Marcus' office, closing the door behind him.

"Now. Where were we?" Marcus turned to his new assistant. "I've already set you up with an assistant of your very own, so that leaves only your job description. Which is simple, really. Be honest and do as I ask. Understand?"

Patterson looked at him as though he'd sprouted horns. Repressing the urge to search his head for telltale bumps, he smiled encouragingly. "What is it?"

"You seem in a good mood, Sir," Patterson ventured.

"I am. Best you keep it that way, huh? Okay, I need you to find out about Warner's other... extra-curricular activities. I have the feeling that knowledge might come in handy to defend his termination soon."

Patterson frowned. "For what it's worth, I did overhear them talking about the Senior Partners while they were going through my stuff. Surely the Senior Partners don't need more reasons, especially since you were the one terminating him?"

"You know I'm not talking about the Partners. The Black Thorn has been on my back a lot lately; I'll need to find a way around them." Rubbing his forehead, Marcus leaned back in his chair. "Damn, now you've killed my mood. Don't bring those Black Thorns up anymore."

"I didn't, Sir. You did," Patterson corrected him, immediately restoring Marcus' cheerfulness.

"That's what I was talking about! See how I'm not killing you?" He had made the right call yesterday, Patterson would come in handy.

"Yes Sir, I've noticed." Patterson grinned, still slightly unnerved by Marcus' behavior but starting to loosen up. "Thanks for that."

Marcus laughed out loud and gestured to the door. "Go. Incriminate Warner."

After Patterson left, Marcus took some time to assess his position in the firm. Warner had been an important lackey for the Black Thorn in Wolfram & Hart, and now he was dead. Marcus had killed him. The Thorns had never taken a particular liking to Marcus, and it was obvious to him the assassination of Steve Warner would not help matters. One essential thing to do today was to find someone competent to take over Warner's job, before the Black Thorn could put someone forward to fill the vacancy.

"Patterson!" Marcus bellowed, hoping the man was still within ear's reach.

It took a couple of seconds for Patterson to re-emerge in the door opening. "Yes Sir?"

"Find me someone reliable to take over Warner's job." Marcus thought for a moment, then added, "Preferably someone without ties to the Black Thorn or Wolfram & Hart."

Patterson smiled confidently. "I know just the guy, Sir. I'll be right back."

Jessica couldn't keep her attention focused on the Henderson's case files. She'd tried to read through a report on the water condition in the area, but her mind kept wandering. No wonder. She'd slept with Marcus. Twice. It had been... amazing. She sighed dreamily. Marcus really was a sweetheart when you got to know him better. He had been so gentle and even... loving. Did this mean that he actually was her boyfriend? She figured it did. She lived with him, she was in love with him and they had sex. To quote a popular saying: If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck... He might not be a regular boyfriend, him being non-human and all, but still, Marcus had to have feelings for her or he wouldn't have acted the way he did yesterday.

In retrospect, the past week didn't seem so bad. Of course, Marcus had been mad at her a couple of times, but he'd had good reason every time. That first night she'd tried to kill him. If that didn't constitute grounds to be angry with somebody, she didn't know what did. After that, she'd been so scared that she'd acted like his personal slave. That hadn't been what he wanted from her, and he'd let her know. Maybe he had overreacted a little bit, but with all the traumatic experiences he'd had in his life, you couldn't blame him for trying to solve problems by using violence. Then there was the time she'd ambled through the apartment barely clothed and he walked in on her. It could have been somebody else delivering those documents and to be honest, she didn't want to think about what could've happened. Even though she'd been at fault there, and she'd even snapped at him for being mad, he had apologized to her. He might not be overly healthy emotion-wise, but she could deal with that.