Ages:
Marco: 41
Ace: 26
Austin: 8
Marcy: 4

Relationship status: Happily married!

Edited this from on my phone so excuse me if there are more mistakes then normal, I have no English spellcheck on here.

Austin's POV

It was all a blur, one moment he was a bit embarrassed Ace had noticed that he had changed the game for the little girl and was thanking him. Before seconds later he heard the other stutter and turned to look, only to see the elder fall down!

He jumped up screaming Ace's names and ran around the couch, seeing the body laying limply on the floor shocking him into a frozen state.

He could only watch as Marcy crawled out of the couch and simply waltzed on over and with a pillow from said couch and put it under her dad's head. Walking back over to pull down the blanket and also putting it over him, a bit messily, but it still covered most of the body.

Still stunned he watched on as the girl patted raven hairs and gave a small kiss, wishing a goodnight, the same ritual he had seen happening between the parents and Marcy when she went to sleep.

How was she so calm!? Why was she acting as if it was normal for her father to randomly fall down. To lay on his back on the floor, unmoving and eyes closed. Falling in the middle of speaking when he had seemed perfectly fine!

Apparently noticing that something is wrong, Marcy briefly looked to him before she kept saying, "Daddy's okay. Daddy sleepy." Repeating it a few times before she laid down on top of his chest.

Somehow able to move he stumbled for the cordless phone they had on the cabinet. Marco having shown him how it works and how to call him if he needs anything and Ace is maybe taking his nap.

With trembling fingers he pressed the different buttons and held the phone to his ears, getting more and more scared every time it went to voicemail.

With tears forming in his eyes, he clutched the phone in his hands, trying and trying again to reach the blond as he silently watched Marcy relaxing on Ace's chest, Seeming to listen to his heartbeat... But that wouldn't be there.

Marco POV

"And that's it. Bring him to the ward and make sure someones there when he wakes up in about 20 minutes." Pulling off his gloves he walked out of the operation chamber and to the dressing room. Getting himself cleaned and back into clothes to work in the office the rest of the day, filling out paperwork, but first, a coffee from the breakroom.

Waiting for his sweet life nectar to be done, he started up his phone to check it, frowning at it when he saw 7 missed calls from their landline. Just as he was about to call back, another call came in.

Blinking at it he picked up, "hello-"

"ACE IS DEAD AND MARCY THINKS HE'S SLEEPING AND LAYING ON HIM AND I'M SCARED!"

Marco's eyes widened, Austin's never seen Ace have one of his attacks. He cursed silently as he heard Austin cry at the other end of the line and guilt washed over him that he hadn't thought to warn the boy if this. He had to find a way to console him.

"Shhhh, Austin-yoi, listen. I want you to put your head over Ace's heart. Okay? Can you do that, bud?"

"Marcy has her head there." A small scared voice sounded over the phone.

"It's fine, Austin, just put your head next to hers or lightly move her before laying down. I'll be coming home." He singled for a nurse to come over and wrote down on a pad of paper they had laying around, 'Emer. going home' and handed it to her, waiting a moment until she nodded before making his way to the exit as fast as he could.

"I'm leaving the hospital now. I'll be home in less then 20 minutes, i promise. I won't disconnect the call."

Austin POV

Nodding to the phone, not even really replying he saw Marcy looking at him again, almost questioning him with her eyes as to why he was panicking.

Slowly he bent down next to Ace. This was scary, he didn't want to touch Ace right now, not like this.

Shaking and with Marco's encouragements he rested his head on Ace's chest. For a few seconds he only heard the rushing of his own blood and furious beating heart in his ears before softer and even spaced thumps came through too. It made his heart skipp a beat. Ace's heart was still beating.

Still shaking and crying he sat up, Ace was alive. He had to find his voice to tell Marco that Ace was fin-.

Thoughts got interrupted as Ace suddenly moved. He almost wanted to smile untill he noticed the raven's eyes were still closed and the movement seemed... Weird.

He doesn't know why, but he pulled Marcy away from the other, off of his chest. And... Right in time too for Ace suddenly started trashing around.

In favor of scooping up Marcy, he dropped the phone and ran upstairs as fast as he could, ignoring Marco calling for him before it changed to calling Ace's name. Wanting to for some reason shield Marcy from seeing her own dad like this, he ran into Ace's and Marco's room to hide, squeezing Marcy as he felt her start to cry. He thinks the girl herself getting scared by the situation even if she had somehow known from the start Ace was alive. Looking around he opened the closet, finding a spot under the hangers and crawling in to hide when Ace started screaming.

Marco POV

Marco cursed while desperately calling out for Ace through the phone. He had tried to get Austin to pick up the phone, to take it with him to wherever he was going, then he could have talked to him, tried to calm him. He however knew it was in vein when not long after Austin disappeared he heard Ace screaming like he was getting murdered. He had an attack and was probably trashing around, it having scared Austin away. Swallowing he drove just a tadd faster, calling out for his husband, hoping that somehow he could hear him and snap out of it. Ace hadn't had an attack this bad in ages. Was it the different environment? Austin, a still kind of stranger to Ace's mind that triggered the attack once he slept? Was it because he had made Austin touch him?

He would never know and he actually really didn't care right now. The only think on his mind now was to get home, protect Ace from himself and find the kids to calm them.

Agonizing minutes later he pulled into their driveway, shutting off the car and running into the house.

"Ace!"

Rushing over he fell down to his knees next tp his husband, spotting him almost instantly behind the couch. Hoping to try and settle him, he pulled his trembling form into his lap, grasping both Ace's hands and holding them tightly. Small marks on freckled arms already showing he had hurt himself in the attack, fighting off who knows what. So even if him holding the other still may worsten the attack, he still held the hands, not wanting Ace to hurt himself more.

"Ace! Ace! It's okay, you're alright-you!"

The screaming continued, Ace trashing in his hold.

"Damn-it" he cursed as he geld on more securely than before, calling out over and over again.

"Ace! Baby! You're Home! You're Home! It's not real! Listen to my voice-yoi! It's Marco, your husband-yoi!"

Slowly, so painstakingly slow did the screaming stop. And while the trembles persisted in the body, the fighting against his hold also came to an halt.

He gently patted his husband's hair, saying ensuring words that everything's okay, that everything was fine while waiting for Ace to fully wake up. He knew it could be any moment now.

… (Switches back and forth between Marco and Ace... and Austin... RIP Pov's)

Bleary, scared looking gray eyes blinked open and before Ace could freak out, he put a hand on his freckled forehead, hoping to grab his attention without scarring him more.

"Ace. Hi, it's me Marco-yoi, are you with me? You're fine."

"... M-Marco?"

Humming he replied, "Yes, it's me. Marco, your husband. You're home. You're okay, you're okay-yoi."

Clinging to Marco, Ace took some staggering breath before letting his body relax in his husband's hold.

He wished he could go back to sleep, feeling more exhausted than before but was scared that whatever he had seen would return. "Was... Was it bad?"

A sad look crossed Marco's face and he wiped some sweat-streaked hair out of Ace's face

"Yea, it's been a while since one this bad has happened and... I'm sorry." he whispered, "The kids saw."

Ace's eye widened, "Marcy, Austin?" He looked around to find them, apologize, but he couldn't spot them anywhere.

"They've gone hiding somewhere. I haven't been able to check yet where they've gone. Austin had called me when it happened so I rushed home. He dropped the phone I think when you started trashing-yoi, I had to help you first before looking for the kids." Marco gave Ace's hair a light kiss, "I couldn't let you hurt yourself."

Ace felt like crying. His baby girl. Their new boy. He probably scared them so bad. And neither him nor Marco had the brains to tell Austin about his medical condition. He buried his head in his hands and cried. "I'm so fucking stupid. How did I not warn him." He muttered, tears still streaming down his face. "I scared them, Marco. I terrified our kids. Now Austin maybe doesn't even want to return here."

Making sure he had a tight hold on Ace, Marco kissed Ace's hair again and spoke slowly, "I... It's okay Ace. You're not stupid. You can't do anything about this and we both hadn't thought of it to tell them." he took a moment to squeeze Ace just a bit more, "Even with Marcy, I taught her how to put that pillow under your head and everything, to stay calm and everything would be fine. Yet I never even thought to tell Austin that this is something that could happen, I'm sorry-yoi."

Sniffing Ace held onto the other, looking down to see that his feet were tangled up in one of Marcy's favourite blankets that they kept down stairs. Their little girl handled it all so well, but even now he isn't so sure how she is. This wasn't a normal sleep attack anymore where he literally just calmly sleeps. He knows from Marco how scary it can be when he starts trashing.

"I'll go look for them-yoi." Marco stood up, also taking the fallen phone from the ground, he reached out a hand to help Ace get up, but let him sit down when the other shook his head. He'll go to the couch by himself in a minute.

Giving a small smile he went up the steps, not having heard any sounds downstairs for the duration he had been here so upstairs is where he guessed they'll be. He checked the kids rooms first, but with no luck he went to his own room, noticing the door was shut. He knocked softly and opened the door, instantly sniffling and hiccups reaching his ears.

"Austin? Marcy?"

He didn't see them, but thanks to the sound he knew they were in here. He followed the noises, leading him to their big closet. Very carefully he slid the door open, his eyes pulled down to Austin's body sitting on the floor, clothes all draped around him. In his arms was their daughter, Austin having her in a sturdy hold, one arm around her back to pull her close, while the other had Marcy's head pushed against his chest. It broke his heart to see both kids huddled together behind the clothes to hide, so obvious they were scared, Marcy the one visibly crying, but he could see Austin was just keeping strong.

Under the boy's watchfull gaze he crouched down and he noticed a look cross Austin's face, did he think he did something wrong? "You did everything right, Austin." He said softly, in no way did the boy need to think he did something wrong by hiding and taking Marcy with him. "You called me when something happened to Ace, when you didn't know what was going on. And when everything seemed unsafe you searched for your own safe spot, even keeping Marcy safe."

Austin looked taken-a-back. Marco... wasn't mad? He was expecting harsh words at the very least. Mostly he had been expecting to be yanked from the closet by his arm, maybe even get a hit before getting scolded, not only for running away from an adult in the family but taking their own daughter with him to do so and right now he was getting their clothes dirty by being squeezed in here. He... he had even gone into the adult's room without permission! There was so much for what Marco should be mad for yet... he didn't seem the slightest bit angry.

"You- You're not... you're not mad?" Austin sniffed lightly.

A gently smile came in return. "I have no reason to be. Ace hasn't an attack like that in years, so even I would be a bit surprised. And on top of that, it's our fault for not telling you about his medical condition-yoi. I should be the one to apologize that we didn't warn you and even thank you for protecting Marcy."

Unsure Austin glanced between Marcy and Marco, the girl still clutching to him, "So ... A-Ace, is alright?"

Marco smiled at Austin's question "He's fine. A little shocked himself since it hasn't happened in a while, and he's sad that he's scared both of you, but he's okay. Do you want to see him? He can explain himself what was going on."

He stayed silent, giving time for Austin to think about it, seeing an unsure look cross his eyes. "It's okay if you don't want to go yet-yoi. I can understand that it must have been scary, for the both of you."

A few seconds later Marcy sniffed loudly and slowly let go of Austin in favor of reaching out her hands towards Marco, "Wanne see daddy."

Gently Marco crawled a bit into the closet to picked her up, holding her in his arms and wiping her tears, "That's very brave of you, Marcy." he said while giving a kiss on her nose.

"I... I want to come too."

Smiling at the soft voice, Marco stretched out his hand for Austin to take. When the boy grasped it and stood up, both getting out of the closet, he pulled him into one armed hug, holding Marcy in the other. He could feel how Austin was trembling a little bit and held onto him, it must have really scared him. He waited a bit for Austin to calm down before getting up and leading the boy downstairs.

By now Ace had settled into the couch, and while you could see he had cried too, he had been able to collect himself and look fairly calm, probably expecting Marco to bring down the kids.

Looking up to see Marco coming down with the two kids, carrying Marcy down the steps as Austin walked by his side.

Austin looked at Ace when they got down and moved to stand behind Marco. The blond maybe hadn't been mad at him, but he wasn't sure if the other man was going to hit him. He used the phone without permission and essentially called his husband on him.

Marco ruffled his hair and sat down on the couch, setting Marcy on Ace's lap. Austin watched how she instantly hugged her daddy around the middle, Ace giving a hug back and kissing her head. He hesitated a few moments before going to sit on the couch between Ace and Marco, nervously looking down of what was to come.

"Thank you, Austin." Ace said looking down to the young boy. "I haven't had an attack like that in ages. I'm sorry for not warning you about the possibility of it happening." He smiled when Austin looked up, "And you made sure to keep Marcy safe from me, I can't thank you enough."

The boy could only nod. He wasn't used to being praised... being thanked... he did so many things that should get him punished. It was weird, but... it felt good.

"Daddy scare Marcy."

Ace looked down to his daughter as she whispered. "Daddy's really sorry for scaring Marcy and Austin." He kissed her head, and gently placed a hand on Austin's shoulder.

He took a breath, "I have a sleep disorder called Narcolepsy," He began explaining to Austin about him falling asleep, sometimes randomly but with meds it has gotten better, though it can never be cured and emotions influence him a lot. "I was diagnosed when I was seventeen." He explained that he was having an hallucination at the time, his brother Sabo helping him through it even though he didn't know what was going on.

"What's that?" Ace looked at Marcy who looked really confused.

"Daddy was having a scary dream and couldn't wake up." Marco said softly to Marcy. It may not be 100% what it was, but it was the best description Marcy would be able to somehow understand.

"I normally fall asleep anywhere between fifteen and twenty minutes. We can look at some videos later if you want. Then you can see what it is and how it sometimes happens. But I do promise this, the trashing and screaming is a rarity. Normally it will really just look as if I'm sleeping."

Austin slowly nodded, he wanted to know more about this, not wanting to be scared for something that may happen more often. "You... you're okay now? It's not going to happen again?"

"I'm fine now. If it happens, I am mostly a little disoriented afterwards, but that's it. And normally it won't happen again. There's always the possibility that it could happen again ofcourse. But usually the attacks never happen close after each other."

"Okay..." Slowly Austin reached out towards Ace, seeming to want to hug him too like Marcy was, but not sure if he should.

Ace didn't move and let him decide, not wanting to push. When after a moment he felt a hand creeping behind his back, he too took a hold of Austin and held him close. "I'm sorry, Austin, for scaring you."

After a little while Austin pulled away and looked between both parents before locking determined eyes with Ace. "You explained that Marco often woke you up, when a big attack like this happens." Ace nodded to it, a little confused on why Austin said it now, "How can I do that?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"What do I need to do if this happens again? If you have a bad dream and Marco's working."

For a moment Ace was speechless, minutes earlier Austin had been hiding in the closet, and now he's already asking what to do if it happens again. "I ehm... usually it is just a sleep attack, so you could do just like Marcy does, give me a pillow or something to support my head. Most important is just that I can breathe well, that nothing is in my face."

The boy nodded with determination "and what if you scream? When you have a bad dream."

Ace didn't instantly answer, he actually didn't know himself what Marco did when he was out. He knew he spoke to him but that's all.

Seeing his husband being unsure, Marco took over. "Just talk to him-yoi."

"Talk to him?"

"Yes, tell him where he is, who you are, that everything is okay, that nothing he sees is real. Simply repeat things like that. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't work, it all depends on the attack."

"But... he needs to wake up..."

"I know-yoi, but if it's a bad attack, even I can't do anything and the only thing you can do is wait it out. There's one thing you need to promise me though. Don't try and touch Ace if he has an attack like this, if he's screaming and trashing and he isn't reacting to you."

"Why not? Then he knows I'm here?"

Marco nodded to the last questions, "Yes and no. He could feel that you're there indeed, but it could actually make things worse. If he's suddenly touched when he doesn't know what's going on outside his mind, he could lash out."

"Lash out?"

Ace looked away sadly when the question was asked, Marco quickly putting a hand on his husband's hand and squeezed it tight in reassurance. He knows this must be difficult for Ace too, but they have to warn them and now that they're having this talk, they should get everything out of the way.

"Yes, Ace could try and hit the spot where he was touched. His bad dreams often make him dream of... monsters... so he could think that a bad thing is touching him and trying to hurt him. So it's possible that he'll try to protect himself by trying to hit whatever is touching him. If I am home, you'll see me touch Ace, grab a hold of his arms and keep them still even if he doesn't react to me speaking. It's to prevent him from lashing out and hurting others, or himself by accident. But even while asleep, he's still an adult, he's strong, you and Marcy can't hold him back yet like I can. So, if this happens again, just move back a little and call out for him, that's enough, that's all you can do." he explained gently but firmly. "You can also always call me, no matter if I am at work or not, okay? Don't be afraid to use the phone."

"And if Marco doesn't pick up, you can always call Haruta" Ace added to it all.

"Auntie!" Marcy cheered with a laugh.

"Haha, yes, auntie. She and papa's brothers are all close by and know of my condition too. If you explain to them what's going on, they'll know. Just call anyone in the phonebook that has 'Newgate' as a last name and you'll find someone who can come help you."

Austin nodded to it and asked a few more question, wanting to know more about everything and how to handle things. Relaxing more and more as he knew more about it all. Still a bit in awe at them taking the time to explain, even looking proud that he wanted to know.

Later that evening after supper, Ace brought Austin into his game room and started up the screen, linking his phone to it.

Looking around the room amazed, Austin took a seat on the couch, Ace following suit. They had shown him the room when he first visited, and Ace had even let him in to play a game once.

"Here we go." Ace suddenly spoke, "This was back when Marcy was only a few months old. Probably one of my viewers favourite moments." He laughed and loaded up the video, showing Ace was playing Call of Duty with some others, Marcy strapped to his chest in a carrier, when suddenly he fell asleep. You could hear his team calling out to him trying to wake him, ushering Marcy to poo her pants or anything so the smell woke Ace up.

Austin couldn't help but laugh at it and laughed even more when Marcy simply started patting Ace's face and drooling all over him while Ace's head was resting against the head-rest of his chair, oblivious to what was all going on.

Ace chuckled to Austin's reaction, "Oh she did that often. I still never he the end of it. She sometimes even stuck fingers up my nose and things when she got a little older... wait I may have a recording of that too."

He had thought these videos may have been a bit scary, seeing Ace falling down randomly. And while he sometimes jumped, not expecting it, it didn't seem so bad, nowhere near as bad as the attack he witnessed today. He could handle these things and as he watched... he laughed more then anything else, not only Marcy toying a bit with her daddy as he slept, but also Marco joining in by once handing the small child a marker. This family really seems nice.