Trauma Center belongs to Atlus.

This story belongs to an AU in which Derek worked for Delphi in the past and was a 'sinner' who was infected with Bliss. This AU is something I will get to writing eventually, can't promise anything but I hope you enjoy reading this one-shot. I apologies if I've butchered Markus' character, I haven't written much New Blood content.

The Uncomfortable Atmosphere

Markus glanced up from the documents of Stigma at the other member of Caduceus in the room. Across the table from him sat Derek Stiles, a former member of Delphi and one of the people behind the G.U.I.L.T outbreak in the past. Just being in the same room as Derek made Markus feel uncomfortable for some reason. He knew how hard it was to rid yourself of the past as it had a bad habit of returning but Derek here...studying Stigma? It really didn't sit right with him.

Derek continued to ponder over the medical records of Stigma patients and over what he gathered from Stigma over his time operating. He continued to pull similarities between Stigma and G.U.I.L.T and differences between the two man-made diseases. He couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with this research, even if it meant that he was to be supervised by someone he wasn't too familiar with. Could he freely pick Markus' brain when it came to Stigma? Or would he be forbidden to pick the brain of the other surgeon. He glanced at Markus and noticed that Markus was staring at him. Sitting up straight he leaned back in his chair.

"You're staring at me as if I've grown another head," Derek commented with a slight smile on his face. Markus huffed at that comment.

"Just feels unfair that I have to babysit you," Markus simply responded with a shrug of his shoulders. He still felt uneasy about this whole situation but he understood why Caduceus (or any branch) couldn't let someone who understood parasites go so easily. Derek could think like an organization could when it came to their man-made pathogens. Heck, they couldn't even remove the 'Bliss' prototype from his body without killing him. Something other medical staff had argued about for months after this discovery. The 'Bliss' had worked its way too deep into Derek's body to be removed safely.

"I've taken the medication to keep my condition stable, if you can't accept that fact then we're going to have lots of issues. It's only for another 30 minutes or so before Nurse Thompson returns."

"How could you help in the creation of G.U.I.L.T all those years ago?!" Markus demanded while rising from his seat and slammed his hands on the desk.

Derek simply watched with fascination. He had met a few people who came to despise his existence to walk the streets without being behind bars like the other members were...well, most were. There were a few exceptions to that rule such as Naomi's involvement with Delphi but repaying her debt by working for Caduceus. Derek was much doing the same (although not by his own choice...but to respect Kenneith's wish) but unlike Naomi, he had an 'incurable' strain of G.U.I.L.T living inside of him.

He continued to look into Markus' eyes before something clicked in his mind...was it possible that Markus was feeling some shred of guilt over Stigma? Derek wasn't dumb. Not at all but this reaction just felt too familiar...was he involved in Stigma's creation? Much like Derek was with G.U.I.L.T? A smile grew on his face as he looked away from Markus. How could he phrase what was running through his mind without causing a commotion? The answer...he couldn't. He would be pushing one of Markus' buttons with anything he said. Might as well have some fun~

"Seems you're guilty of the same crime I have. Your reactions don't match others who were left to 'babysit' me as you called it," he used air quotation marks at the word babysit before he continued, "so its very possible that you seem to share at least some guilt when it comes to Stigma...I mean, why else would you look so worked up right now?"

Markus' glare hardened and fury started to bubble up inside him but he knew what Derek was getting at. He did feel responsible for Stigma...he ran away when he discovered it and only recently just admitted to his two closest friends what he had done. They looked at him with sympathy before determination to clear Stigma from the world, to eradicate it so it couldn't hurt anyone ever again. Whenever Markus looked at Derek, he didn't see that. He didn't see Derek working to repay the debt he owed the world for G.U.I.L.T, he just saw nothing. No shred of guilt about what he had done and even now he didn't seemed to care.

"Those eyes, they burn with fury, I like that. You clearly care about what you've done though and are determined to clear the mess an accident made. I..." Derek started before he stopped. What did he feel? Envy, because he couldn't feel the fire of justice that others seemed to have burning inside of them? Was he envious for another reason? Envy that Markus could show and feel such emotion without anything forcing him to restrain his emotions? Maybe he did...maybe he felt envious for both reasons.

Markus struggled to contain his rage, his hands had curled into fists and shaking on the table. Derek wasn't even looking at him anymore and appeared to be deep in thought about something. He couldn't be bothered to finish his damn sentence!

"Well?!" Markus demanded. That outburst seemed to have done the trick, Derek's attention was back onto him again.

"Envious of you...and others."

"You? Envious? Why?" Markus demanded once more.

"It's something stupid..." Derek responded to the anger coming from Markus and picked up one of the files and read through it. Ops, probably one of the more 'entertaining' strains of Stigma because of how it behaved. Things were constantly moving with Ops itself trying to revive itself by throwing nutrients at its core. He drew the comparison with Pempti by how they both threw things out to either damage the patient or help itself. "Most of you can show your expressions as clear as day, wear your heart on your sleeve as some would say. You can express your anger, hatred, happiness, anxious, despair...you can express it all. I can't." Derek continued before glancing up at Markus. He watched as the other man's expression shift from pure rage to a hint of confusion too.

"What do you mean?" Markus asked through gritted teeth.

"I'm sure you're aware of the G.U.I.L.T inside me? What you're not aware is that I have to take very powerful anti-G.U.I.L.T medication to manage it. It can't remove it and every time I take it, it hurts like hell. Whole body feels on fire and I have to wait between 10 to 30 minutes for it to subside. Nasty side effect if I may say so but it essentially locks down my G.U.I.L.T but after performing some tests Victor discovered that feeling emotions, strong or small can trigger it. I express pure happiness even for a few seconds and my G.U.I.L.T can become active, creating a strain inside me and expelling it into the air ready to infect someone else. So I envy you and many others who can freely express how one feels without causing an issue. I don't have that luxury."

"But you smiled, you express emotions often, I don't believe you."

"I'm not restricted to feeling nothing. I've just got to be careful with it. I'm constantly monitored by chiral reaction so as soon as one is formed I'm operated on and the strain just generated removed," Derek looked back up at Markus. "We should be getting back to work. Nurse Thompson will be returning shortly."

"Fine."

"Call me a monster if you wish, it doesn't bother me."

Markus slowly lowered himself back into his chair and slowly started to return back to work. He didn't trust Derek. He couldn't trust Derek. At least some things came to light but that didn't mean Markus needed to trust this man. With one last glance at Derek, Markus grabbed the nearest bit of paper and continued to read.

Thank for you reading.