๐“€€Marc๐“€€

"Don't muck this up," Steven said.

"So you've already told me - many, many times."

"You nervous?"

"Yeah."

"It's okay to be nervous-"

"I know, Steven."

"You've got this, mate."

"Thanks, buddy..."

Yeah he was nervous. Eva had agreed to go out with him. She loved Steven, she already knew that, and he and Marc already knew that. Marc didn't want to interfere with that - he loved Steven as well in his own way, and he loved her too, and he wanted his chance for him and Eva to get to know each other under some semblance of normal circumstances.

"Yeah, come on Marc," he muttered to himself as he paced around outside the museum, unable to go inside now to meet her ever since the mess he made with the jackal in case any other staff member should recognize him. "Don't muck this up."

"Hi," she greeted. He had been so lost in his thoughts he hadn't even noticed her coming his way.

He stopped pacing. "Hi," he responded.

They both stood there for a moment, smiling.

Oh, God this was awkward.

"So, what would you like to do?" she asked, opening the conversation.

Marc shrugged. "I'm open. What would you like to do?"

"I'm open as well. We could go for a walk."

"Yeah, yeah, a walk would be nice." Get it together, Marc. "You know what, before we go, I need the bathroom. Men's, just inside?" he pointed to the museum.

"Yes, through the doors and to the left."

"Thanks." And with that he hurried away, leaving her standing there.

He was gone a long time. She was thinking of checking on him when her mobile rang. Steven.

"Steven?"

"Hi Love. Marc's a bit of a mess - he really needs you."

"All right - still in the loo?"

"Yeah."

She headed back inside, grabbing a janitors cart and pushing it so that it stood in front of the men's loo door to hopefully dissuade anyone from going inside, and headed inside herself.

It was empty, besides a closed stall. Good, she didn't have to kick anyone out.

"Marc?" Her voice echoed.

"Eva?"

"Steven called me, he said you needed me."

"I'm sorry, I'm screwing this up." His muffled voice came from the other side of the closed stall door.

"No, you're not. This is new for all of us. I'm here, if you need me." She sat down on the floor outside his stall, back against the door.

"Have you spoken to Layla?" she asked after a long silence between them, curious.

He sounded distant, "Yeah, briefly. Right now, she needs some time and space."

"Yeah, understandable." The poor girl still had to come to terms with the new truth of her father's death.

"Yeah. She deserved better."

Suddenly, the bathroom filled with the sounds of men's voices, and three young guys in their twenties burst in.

"Hey! What part of 'loo being cleaned' don't you understand?" Eva cried, knowing full well they would have had to go past the janitor's cart in order to get inside. Her clear sign clearly wasn't clear enough. The guys were immediately silenced and backed out of the room.

She heard Marc chuckle from his side of the stall door. "God, I love you."

She smiled, warmth coursing through her body at his words. "If you're feeling ready, maybe we could continue this someplace other than the men's toilets."

"Yeah, I'm a fan of that idea." The stall door creaked open to reveal him crouched on the floor. She stood and offered him a hand. He took her hand and she helped him to his feet. Then, hand-in-hand, they left the museum.

They walked for a while, not really having a destination in mind, just journeying, going on this journey together. Eventually, they took a seat on a park bench, and there he told her everything, from the beginning: his childhood, his family in Chicago, the tragedy with Randall, his mother, the nightmare that became his life, the leaving, the returning, the coming and going all over again. His work in the forces, then as a mercenary, what happened with Layla's father, his near death, Khonshu, Layla, and his mother's Shiva. He even finally admitted to arriving in London at Khonshu's instruction and joining her tour groups more times than he would like to admit, and shortly thereafter where Steven and himself had traded places. Stuff he hadn't even told Layla about while they were married.

She sat absorbing all this. "Oh Marc-" She didn't know what to say. 'I'm so sorry' didn't seem quite big enough, but still she said it. "I'm so sorry, so sorry. Thank you, for telling me." She gave his hand a squeeze from where it was still held in her own, neither having let go of the other's hand since the museum, neither wanting to do so.

"Thanks, you deserve to know."

"Well thank you for sharing. I know that can't have been easy."

"No, you're right, it wasn't, at all, but I'm glad I did it. I feel somewhat lighter now." He had never shared any of this with Layla, not even when they were together, and if he was starting fresh, in general and with a new relationship, and with no Khonshu breathing down his neck and constantly watching over his shoulder, he wanted to start off on the right foot. And so far, so good, or so it seemed. They were reaching a special understanding.

He thought back to one of those many times he had crashed her tour group, long before they had officially met, long before she had even met Steven. One such time, a group of school children had been eagerly firing away questions at her about the various gods and goddesses in Egyptian mythology, which she had clearly been more than happy to answer and talk about, her answers coming almost as rapidly as the children's questions.

"Khonshu is the god of the moon," she had told them.

From his spot in the back, Marc had stifled a chuckle. "I know. Oh, do I know."

"Would you like to continue walking?" she asked, giving his hand another squeeze.

"Actually I was just thinking we could go back to the museum - you could give me my own private tour of your favourite exhibits."

She raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Really."

"You don't want to keep a bit of a distance from all that for a while?"

"I'd like to be reintroduced to it through a different lens and fresh eyes." Not Khonshu wreaking havoc on his life every waking moment. "And you're the expert, so..."

"Oh, I'm no expert." She chuckled. "What if you get recognized from, you know..."

He shrugged. "Steven and I may look the same, but we act and sound totally different."

"True."

"So what do you say?"

Grinning, she got to her feet, pulling him up to his feet from the bench as well. "I say let's go grab some dinner and then I'll take you on a quiet private tour of the museum after hours - a Night at the Museum experience of sorts."

Marc squeezed her hand. "Sounds perfect. You lead the way."

And there we have it, Marc's time to shine! :) I'm sorry for making you all wait so long for it but hope it was worth the long wait!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :) And now, get ready for some Jake Lockley everyone! ;)