Marshall Lee continues to hide the wound inflicted by the spear in the graveyard even as he begins to get sick, but all the stress and pain comes to a head when Fionna goes missing and Flint loses control.

With shaking hands and fumbling fingers Marshall Lee replaced the adhesive bandage across the left side of his ribs. He could hardly stand the pain of reaching back to press the second bandage over the other end of the wound where the spear had pierced through and out his back under his shoulder blade. Even if he was a vampire, such awful wounds could still be deadly if untreated, and hurt like hell. With a long sigh, Marshall inspected his work in his long mirror on the back of his bathroom door. It'd been three days since he'd been impaled on that spear in the graveyard and managed to hide it and pretend it was all faked in front of Fionna and Cake. It'd been a tough couple weeks for the Vampire King after retrieving his late father's gifts from the Mazirion, made even tougher by the spear wound and lack of sleep thanks to heartbreaking dreams, nightmares, and the constant soul-crushing ache in his ribs as well as his heart. His heart hurt for the memory of his father, for his treatment of Fionna and Cake the night of his accident, and for his own idiocy that same night trying to get Fionna to admit she loved him. She hadn't answered, and he wondered to himself... If she'd said she didn't love him, could it have possibly hurt any worse?

Relaxing gingerly onto his right side on his bed, Marshall was perfectly fine with daydreaming til he fell asleep if sleep did finally come. He had no such luck. It seemed like he'd only just relaxed and forgotten about his aching chest when a knock at the front door made him jolt awake and groan in pain. He glanced out the window to the mouth of his cave to note the light of the setting sun. Of course... Most people expected him to be awake by this time. So with all the effort he could summon, he sat up and pulled on his grey tank top to cover up the bandages and made his way down to the living room. He'd hardly made it to the bottom floor when the door swung open and Fionna happily trotted in. She tended to let herself in if he took too long.

"Hey, Mar," she piped up brightly while she went about pulling BMO from her pack to set it up for their biweekly game night. She didn't notice the painful smile until he spoke.

"Hey, Fi..." He murmured hoarsely. His depressed tone made her pause to finally see his expression. He looked like he was trying not to fall asleep or be sick at the same time under that fake and slightly agonized smile.

"... What's up? You look like you're gonna pass out or something. She stood up straight to study him, but he made his way to the kitchen and waved the notion aside.

"Nah, just didn't sleep much." He began gathering drinks and snacks from the fridge.

"No, seriously, man. You're pale all the time, but you're like... grey now, not even blue." She stepped up to face him and blocked him from reentering the living room. "What's going on? Are you sick? You look depressed and sick."

Marshall simply played it off as ever, as if nothing was wrong. "I just missed my tanning session, I'll have my color back once I do it tomorrow." He gave her a fanged grin and she huffed as he nudged past.

"Fine, don't tell me."

"Nothing to tell."

"Liar."

"Are you gonna come defend your title or am I gonna be the new Wizardry Wars grand champion?" At that challenge, Fionna bolted to the couch beside him and both took up their controllers. Their gaming was usually animated, jumping all over each other, shoving, teasing, and even fighting over the 'good' controller for superiority. Fionna's next bit hint that things weren't right came when Marshall simply sat still and quiet, his thumbs tapping the buttons and falling behind easily in Fionna's fast pace. After two rounds Fionna had had enough of his lies. Pausing the game mid-match, Fionna looked over at Marshall with a raised eyebrow.

"What the stuff, dude?"

"What?" Marshall asked with an eyebrow raised in return. He leaned back against the couch to feign a normal casual front, but he couldn't help how his hands and teeth clenched at the pressure on his back.

"I know I'm high-energy, but you're ridiculously quiet and slow today. You couldn't even do your fire bolt combo, and you never mess that up."

"I'm having an off day."

"Tell me the truth."

"Tell you what," Marshall sighed, "you win this next round, and I'll tell you everything on my mind. If I win, you stop pushing."

"... You know I'm just worried about you, right?" And that made Marshall's heart clench tightly at the concerned, even slightly hurt look on the bunny-eared blonde's face.

"I know... So we got a deal?" He was definitely not going to give in without a fight, no matter how much he appreciated Fionna's care.

"You're on," Fionna confirmed with a resolute nod. Both gamers fell into silent concentration and focused on BMO's screen like their lives depended on it. Marshall certainly felt his- or that of his image in front of Fionna- did depend on it. On-screen, a blue mage and a red mage clashed with all manner of spells until Fionna's blue mage destroyed Marshall's shield and zapped him out of existence with a firework particle effect.

"YES!" Fionna roared in triumph. "The Wizard Queen prevails!" Marshall let out a heavy sigh and set his controller aside. His mind was too exhausted to fumble for an excuse or evasion. Honestly, it didn't seem worth it to hide the truth. She ought to know he was hurt and sick, right? She was his friend, and if anything, she would give him a stern talking-to and then want to take care of him. Prideful as Marshall Lee was, having someone to care for him sounded pretty good at the moment, especially if it was Fionna.

"Alright," Marshall groaned at her expectant gaze when she looked over at him to uphold his end of the bet. "… The other day, at the graveyard…" Knock-knock-knock. Marshall paused at that, looking to his door. "Why does everyone want my attention today…?" He rose slowly and stepped over to the door, opening it up with some mild surprise at the sight of the flame-protected Flame Prince.

"Good Evening, Marshall Lee," Flint said politely. They could be civil to each other when they weren't battling over who was more detrimental to Fionna's health.

"Uh… hiya. I guess you're here for Fi."

"Is she here?" Before Marshall could answer, Fionna slipped under his arm to hug Flint tightly and press a kiss to his cheek.

"Hey, what's up?" Fionna asked softly, beaming up at her boyfriend. Marshall felt his heart clench at just how happy they both looked to see each other. He could only stay silent and long to be in Flint's place.

"Prince Gumball sent me to get you. He has an important project for us. And Marshall too if he's willing to come." Flint looked up with a welcoming smile to Marshall Lee. It was easy to be nice to the Vampire King when they were both calm and no one was teasing or arguing.

"Uh… Honestly, I'd like to," Marshall shrugged slightly. "But I'm a little under the weather. I think I'm just gonna go to sleep."

"Oh. Well, I hope you feel better soon. If you change your mind, we'll be in the Candy Kingdom for a while." Flint took Fionna's hand, but the blonde adventuress hesitated for a moment and went to gather up BMO and its controllers.

"We'll have another game night when I'm done, okay? Just get some rest. And you still owe me the truth, man," Fionna warned Marshall as she shouldered her pack again once BMO was comfortable inside.

"Yeah, I know. Go on, make sure Gummy doesn't blow himself up or something." Marshall saw the two out, but Fionna was sure to hug him before she went. It would've felt great if not for the fact that she'd wrapped his arms around his chest and disturbed the spear wound. But Marshall had to keep himself from showing any sign of pain as he returned her embrace. The couple set off for the Candy Kingdom while Marshall watched them go from his doorway. As much as he wanted to sleep, he found that rest eluded him when he laid down in bed again. Schwable came to join him and curled up on his unhurt side with a purr. Marshall absently stroked her fur while his mind wandered for hours. The night was sleepless, but the next day was a tradeoff; the onset of fever but with a good eight hours' sleep broken up by the occasional startling fever-dream.

The next evening after a small dinner, Marshall was strumming on his guitar. It was still that stupid soft tune he'd been trying to write lyrics to for months. It had eluded him since before he'd met Fionna, but he'd actually worked out proper chord progressions after meeting her and now he had a beautiful instrumental piece with no prospect of adding vocals. It just sounded… incomplete without a voice. As ever, Marshall's work on this particular song was interrupted. A knock at the door about midnight had him standing from the couch and laying aside his guitar. He had to take care not to sit up too fast or he'd get dizzy. Opening up the door, he was surprised to see Flint again.

"Hello, Marshall. Is Fionna here?"

"No. I haven't seen her since she left with you yesterday."

"Odd… I walked her home early this morning once we were done, but I haven't been able to find her. Prince Gumball needs us to continue our work for him."

"She's probably out somewhere with Cake… what're you two doing for Pinky anyway?"

"The Prince is having us fetch some special materials from here and there for some sort of experiment. I think he's trying to upgrade the city guardians. I'm not sure, Fionna didn't want to sit around and listen."

"Sounds like Fi. So do you know where Cake is? They're probably together."

"Last I heard, Cake was with Lord Monochromicorn today."

"Fionna normally doesn't go with them on their dates," Marshall thought aloud. "Weird… We'd better go talk to them just in case. It's not like Fionna to just disappear and not tell anyone where she's going." Marshall drifted back inside to get his axe guitar, making sure to sling it across his back in a way that wouldn't let the strap contact the bandages across his ribs. Both boys set off into the sky to see if Fionna or Cake had returned to the treehouse since Flint last checked. After they found it empty and dark, they headed for Monochromicorn's home and found Gumball's trusted companion and his love relaxing outside watching the stars. After a quick questioning, they found that Cake nor LM had seen Fionna since that morning. Cake mentioned that the adventuress had gone into the Candy Kingdom after a long nap.

"So you haven't seen her since? No idea where she is at all?" Marshall questioned the cat.

"I thought she went to see Flint." Cake rose from beside Monochromicorn with a deeply concerned expression. "We better ask Gumball." So, now four-strong, the group set off toward the palace and once there, found an impatient Prince Gumball awaiting Flint.

"There you are! I thought you said you'd be back by sunset." Gumball raised an eyebrow at Flint and his companions. "Is everyone helping?"

"It depends," Flint glanced to the other three with him. "Have you seen Fionna?"

"Of course. She came back before noon to help me prepare a crystal of power for one of my guardians. It took us most of the day, then I sent her to get some special magical bark from the forest."

"How long ago?" Marshall murmured.

"Well… about an hour ago. She should be back any minute." Everyone seemed to relax at that. Marshall blew out a sigh, feeling exhaustion set in as his anxiety calmed.

"We ought to stay and wait for her, just in case," Flint suggested, and his companions nodded in agreement. They all found a place to lounge and wait in the great hall. Ten minutes ticked by, but no one thought about it until ten minutes became twenty, then thirty. Flint began to pace and Marshall nervously plucked at his guitar strings. Forty, fifty, an hour, and Gumball sent out guards to check the road to the forest. They returned at the hour and a half mark with no news, and Flint finally opted to go looking for Fionna himself as his temper began to flare in worry.

"This isn't like her," Gumball muttered. "I'll come and-"

"No," Flint growled. "She doesn't need any more help getting lost or in trouble from you." As much as he and Gumball were on good terms, Flint was convinced Fionna going missing was Gumball's fault for sending her alone into an unfamiliar and tricky part of the forest.

"That's hardly called for," Gumball huffed.

"Just stay here in case she comes back," Marshall offered. For once, he was trying to be the peace-keeper.

"I don't need your help to find her either," Flint grumbled before bolting out of the palace. Marshall tried not to be too offended. Flint was just as worried as everyone else if not more. His girlfriend whom he adored was missing in a potentially dangerous part of the woods, and he got angry when he was scared. Marshall was off behind him a moment later while Cake and Monochromicorn deigned to search the surrounding area in case Fionna was simply distracted with something else nearby. Flint and Marshall headed for the area that Gumball had sent Fionna to in order to find the white trees with the magic-infused bark, and the two landed on a small trail through the trees to find evidence that Fionna had been there. They found her pack, one strap slashed, sitting on the side of the path with a terrified-looking BMO poking its head out. Marshall gently gathered up the little bot and the pack and BMO clung to him, muttering something about bandits. Marshall and Flint shared a glance before they both shot down the path after BMO pointed the way.

They found a few goblin-like bandits dead on the path with clear evidence of Fionna's swordsmanship and a shred out of her top clutched in one of their hands along with blood on his claws. Fionna was hurt and fighting for her life; that much was clear especially when they caught the distant clang of metal on metal. Flint took off so quickly that Marshall nearly lost sight of him. They came upon a scene of ten dead goblins and five still alive and fighting against the bunny-eared adventuress. She was bleeding from several raking claw-marks but looked fairly alright.

"Fionna!" Flint cried, bolting into the fray with a roar of anger as a goblin's curved blade ripped into Fionna's sword arm and she ended up dropping her weapon. With the goblins distracted by the raging Flame Prince, Marshall shot to Fionna's side. Her pack was slung on his back with its remaining good strap, and Marshall scooped Fionna up to get her away from the fighting. He set her back down several yards away beside a fairly large boulder, and he dug into her bag for bandages. Both heard an odd sound like glass shattering, and turned to see Flint's flame-protection pendant had shattered under a goblin's blade. The blade sliced into Flint's chest, and the Prince's fiery power suddenly exploded, unchecked any longer by magicks. Marshall barely had the chance to grab Fionna and shield her with his own body when the eruption of flame engulfed the little clearing.

Fionna's eyes clenched tightly shut at the intense heat, but she felt no burning as Marshall put his back to the blaze to defend her. After the longest three seconds of her life amid the heat, she felt Marshall begin to slump against her with a whimper amidst the flaming grass and trees. Fionna barely managed to hold him up. "Flint!" She cried, hoping he would get ahold of himself and stop the fires all around them for Marshall's sake. Flint was in a daze, but snapped back when he heard her anguished cry. His flames dissipated as he turned to see the back of Marshall's shirt full of burned holes and several burns eating into his pale skin.

"Oh my Glob," Fionna whispered, laying Marshall on his side. "Oh glob… Marshall…?" He didn't answer her, and she immediately grabbed the singed bandages from his hand and tore his ruined shirt from his back to try to treat the burns. There, she saw the awful blackened wound in his back. The bandages had burnt away, and Fionna's first thought was that Flint had done this to him. "Flint! What did you do?!" The wound had begun to bleed again from so much stretching and stress, and Fionna struggled to stop the shaking of her hands as she pressed bandages over it. Flint didn't dare get close in his state with his pendant broken.

"Fionna… I didn't-"

"Shut up and go get help!" Fionna snarled at him, making Flint wince painfully at the malice in her voice and her gaze. Surely he hadn't done anything more than accidentally burn the Vampire King in his rage… he couldn't have run him through with fire… right? Even Flint was uncertain of himself as he raced back above the forest. He found Cake and Monochromicorn and told them quickly that Fionna and hurt and Marshall was in horrible shape. Cake opted to go to Fionna while Lord Monochromicorn hurried back to tell Gumball. Flint, however, didn't budge to go back to Fionna until Cake called for him to hurry up and lead her to the wounded pair.

Cake's expression when she saw what had happened to Marshall was nothing short of shock and heartbreak for the vampire. Sure they had many fights and Marshall loved to scare her, but he was a dear friend and Cake was about ready to shred Flint for what she and Fionna thought he'd done.

"I didn't do that to him! Listen!" Flint pleaded as Cake stalked toward him. "I lost control and the pendant broke and I burned him, but I didn't do… that…" His eyes drifted to the bloody bandages in Fionna's hands. Fionna glared at him until Marshall shifted slightly.

"He didn't do it…" Marshall groaned softly. "It was already there…" Fionna's eyes grew wide as she looked back down at the awful wound. It suddenly made sense. He had been getting sick, he was exhausted, and he had been stiff and slow since… since the graveyard.

"You… you really did fall on that spear," Fionna whispered. "Marshall…" Tears brimmed in her eyes. "You big dummy… why didn't you tell me…?"

"I didn't want you to worry," Marshall murmured. "After all I did to you, I didn't want to make it worse." He offered her a miserable smile.

"You're the stupidest guy I've ever met," Fionna sniffled with a painful smile in return just as Gumball arrived with Monochromicorn. They wrapped Marshall up and tended to Fionna as best they could before Cake carried them back to the Candy Kingdom to be seen by Doctor Prince. Fionna's cuts were easily cared for by a nurse, but Doctor Prince spent nearly an hour with Marshall before he emerged to the waiting and worried group.

Gumball had given Flint a replacement for his amulet and Fionna was sitting in silence beside him, holding his hand to let him know that Marshall's burns weren't his fault and to apologize for thinking he'd wounded Marshall so horribly. They and their friends stood when Doctor Prince stepped out and they waited expectantly for news.

"Well," Doctor Prince sighed. "The good news is that he's patched up properly now. Whatever he was doing at home to treat his wounds wasn't effective. I'm afraid the bad news is that he's got a bad infection and a nasty fever. The burns are fairly minor, they'll heal in no time what with him being a vampire. But the infection will run the same course it would with any normal person. It won't be an easy recovery for Marshall Lee, but he'll definitely make it."

"Can I see him?" Fionna asked just above a whisper.

"Of course. One or two at a time, please. Let's not get him worked up."

Fionna ended up going into Marshall's darkened and quiet room alone as Flint couldn't stand to face the Vampire King. She sat down at his side and reached out to take his cold hand. "Marsh…?" She murmured.

"Yeah…"

"You're a jerk."

"I know…" That was all they needed to say, and Fionna remained there with him for nearly an hour til he fell asleep. When she stepped out, she simply motioned for Flint to come walk with her while Cake took over watching Marshall Lee. They stepped out to the gardens and Fionna sat down on a bench and patted the spot beside her.

When Flint took the seat, he began quickly, "Fionna, I-"

"It's okay."

"But- …" he paused again when her eyes came to meet his own. "I… I really never meant to hurt him… I just… I saw that goblin hurt you and I… I lost it."

"I know. I don't blame you for it. You're blaming yourself, though, and you really shouldn't. It was an accident, and you had good intentions. Just… all I ask is that you try to… I dunno, direct your energy or whatever next time."

"There won't be a next time," Flint promised resolutely. "I keep losing my temper… Even when it's justified, it's still too much. I hurt your best friend, regardless of the fact he was already hurt anyway. I can't do that again… not ever."

"Do what you think you need to," Fionna murmured softly, scooting closer to press a kiss to his cheek. As much as he didn't think he deserved it, Flint was glad for her forgiveness and love and returned his own love with a kiss pressed to her lips. It was one of the few real kisses they'd ever shared and Fionna blushed ever so slightly as she curled against his side. He was eventually lost in his own thoughts. I'll be damned if I ever hurt anyone like that again… he thought. Flint decided then and there that he needed to focus on managing his anger and power, and it should be his priority to prove to Fionna that he wasn't a loose cannon or a danger to her and her friends anymore. He had to be the boyfriend she deserved, because she was the girlfriend he felt he could never possibly deserve. She was too loving and too unpredictably perfect for him in his mind, not to mention far too forgiving of his shortcomings, as guilty as he felt for them. But that was why he loved her; she saw everything about him and loved him anyway.

So I had to continue playing with the idea of Marshall hiding the fact he's hurt, but I also had to begin to put a little strain on Flint and Fionna as well as properly addressing Flint's temper and just how powerful and reckless it can become in a moment of rage and vengeance. I'm pretty proud of this chapter, especially because it's the first long chapter of anything I've written since I fell off the wagon with this series. Here's to the feels!

-Taiylor Wallace

P.S. A huge thanks to Imex and Reiko for their ideas and support! I can't build a story without inspiration and new input. A stagnant source does not an original story make.